Lightning Over-Voltages on Amman-Aqaba 400 KV Line

An attempt is made to evaluate the lightning over-voltage failure rate for Amman- Aqaba 400kV transmission line by studying the geographical and temporal characteristics of lightning causing the line forced outages. The line was divided into three sections based on weather and pollution conditions. It was found that the line failure rate due to lightning over-voltages is low compared to other types of line outages. The investigation shows that the pollution conditions do cause line failures more than that due to lightning or adverse weather conditions. However, it is recommended that full investigation of the pollution nature including the effects of dust storms, maximum and minimum temperatures, wind speed and rain falls should be exercised for less line outages.