Recent Use of Line Surge Arresters (EGLA) on overhead Transmission Lines in Japan and their Effect on Reducing Lightning Outages

In Japan, more than 40% of the outages in overhead transmission lines (OHLs) are caused by lightning strikes. An outage refers to the tripping of a circuit breaker, which interrupts AC arc discharges caused by flashovers across insulator strings. Over the past 30 years, the use of line surge arresters (LAs) for OHLs has rapidly increased as a lightning protection measure in Japan.