Independent engineering studies
for earthing, lightning, overvoltage and infrastructure EMC
We use site-specific simulations, measurements and standards-based engineering judgment to make hidden electrical risks visible, quantifiable and manageable — before they become safety, cost, approval or reliability problems.
- A lightning, earthing, surge, or EMC protection system needs engineering
- Protection is over- or under-designed — costly or unreliable either way
- An existing design needs independent or standards-based review
- A new project needs early risk assessment
- An approval requires defensible technical justification
- A failure or accident needs root-cause investigation
- Site conditions or disagreeing vendors make the right answer unclear
When clients bring us in
Typical project situations and decision questions.
Compliant on paper. Exposed on site.
Recurring issues we see in electrical infrastructure engineering, and what we do about it.
- Conflict of interest
Problem Product-biased solutions are often not the most cost-effective fit for the site.
Approach Vendor-neutral & independent engineering based on the actual site conditions.
- Compliance is not performance
Problem Formal checks do not always reflect real site-specific electrical behaviour.
Approach Measurement-based, physics-driven modelling of the electrical system.
- Fragmented protection designs
Problem Earthing, lightning, surge and EMC are frequently assessed separately.
Approach Analyse their interaction as one coupled electrical system.
- Residual risk and blind spots
Problem Despite standards-compliance, blind spots for touch voltage, transient GPR, SPD stress and interference can exist and create real safety risk.
Approach Quantify the remaining real exposure and define targeted mitigation.
- Lower construction cost Avoid unnecessary conductors, electrodes and mitigation measures.
- Faster technical approval Provide traceable assumptions, models and design justification.
- Reduced redesign risk Identify weaknesses before procurement or construction.
- Improved safety Verify touch voltage, step voltage, insulation stress and transient exposure.
- Stronger liability position Document why a protection concept was selected and what residual risks remain.
Why this matters commercially
Protection decisions carry real cost, schedule and liability consequences long after the design is signed off.
Engineering services
Because we do not sell hardware, installation services or vendor-specific products, our recommendations are based on the physics of your site — not on a catalogue. Our engineering is always scoped to your project phase and decision needs.
- Risk analysisSite-specific lightning and electrical risk analysis for early stage or pre-project assessment, covering IEC, NFPA or other standards. Includes short recommendations for quick wins.
- Verifications & optimisationsIndependent verification of existing or planned concepts; simulation-based optimisation of LPS, earthing, surge and EMC measures; insulation coordination.
- Designs & specificationsComplete LPS design (air termination, down-conductor routing, separation distance, LPZ); earthing/ETS design; vendor-neutral SPD specification by required stress and coordination.
- Infrastructure EMC & advanced studiesTransient overvoltages, current distribution, GPR, step/touch voltages, pipeline/cable interference, SPD energy stress, EMC (electromagnetic coupling) for electrical infrastructure.
- Technical engineering report Structured report with input data, assumptions, modelling approach, results, standards assessment, conclusions, and recommendations.
- Decision-ready visualisations Potential maps, current distributions, step/touch voltage plots, SPD stress results, interference profiles, and before/after comparisons.
- Technical follow-up & clarification Professional support during delivery, including explanation of results, response to technical questions, and assistance with next project steps.
- Research or publication support Subject to client approval, selected project results can be developed into white papers, conference papers, or joint technical publications in co-authorship with IONLINX.
- Software tools and dashboards Where useful, results become lightweight calculators, dashboards or decision-support tools your team can reuse.
What you receive
Every engagement is documented for efficient technical review by asset owners, EPCs, insurers, lenders, authorities and independent engineers.
Selected projects and publications
Most of our engineering work is confidential. The projects below illustrate our approach. Details to our methodology may be available on request under NDA.
Wind turbine — Lightning current and surge protection
A direct lightning strike into a wind turbine splits current through the blade, nacelle, tower, earthing and the connected LV/MV plant. Simplified component models miss travelling-wave effects and magnetic coupling, so surge protection is specified on generic assumptions — leaving converters and control systems exposed, or over-specified at unnecessary cost.
Full-scale EMTP-ATP network model of a specific wind turbine — rotor blade, nacelle, tower, earthing and connected LV/MV plant — including travelling-wave effects, height-dependent surge impedance and magnetic coupling, validated against field measurements. The study produced quantitative current-split and overvoltage results for surge-protection specification and lightning-current measurement.
Impact Fewer unplanned outages and lower hardware spend. The quantified current split lets the owner specify SPDs and bonding to the actual duty — reducing converter and control damage after a direct strike, without paying for generic over-specification.
Read the dissertationOverhead-line corridor — Fault current vs lightning current path
An overhead-line corridor is often assessed as if a 50 Hz earth fault and a lightning strike take the same return path — through the nearest mast earthing. They do not. That assumption assigns touch-voltage risk, coating stress and surge-protection duty to the wrong assets, or forces corridor-wide mitigation that the physics does not require.
Electromagnetic simulation of a representative 220 kV multi-mast corridor under three source regimes on the same geometry: ohmic 50 Hz redistribution, 50 Hz with phase-conductor coupling, and a 10/350 µs lightning impulse. The comparison produced quantitative per-mast current shares, soil-surface potential maps and prospective touch voltages — showing that a 50 Hz fault can spread so that a distant low-resistance mast carries more current than the faulted tower, while about 85 % of a lightning impulse remains at the injection mast.
Impact Mitigation placed where the current actually goes Owners avoid paying for corridor-wide lightning measures that the impulse never uses, and catch local touch-voltage and interference risk on nearby pipelines, cables and railway that a nearest-mast assumption would miss — before coating damage, personnel incidents or wrongly specified SPDs appear on site.
Read the technical note- 2026 From Full-Scale EMT Simulation to Machine-Learning-Assisted Modeling of Lightning Transients in Wind Turbines E. Shulzhenko · IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal and Power Integrity (EMC+SIPI)
- 2024 Pioneering Lightning Protection with Machine Learning: An Optimization Example of Lightning Protection System for Wind Turbines E. Shulzhenko, K. Costa, M. Rock · International Conference on Grounding & Lightning Physics and Effects (GROUND & LPE)
- 2024 Optimization Approach for Earth-Termination System for Large-Scale Solar Power Plant with Pre-Determined Air-Termination System E. Shulzhenko, K. Costa, M. Rock · International Conference on Lightning & Static Electricity (ICOLSE)
People & expertise
Our senior engineers ensure independent engineering judgment with scientific capability and 15+ years of project experience. Backed by a team of engineers, you speak directly with the project leads.
Most of our engineering work is confidential. Case studies, example reports or details to our methodologies may be available on request or under NDA.
Ivan and Eduard are certified users of XGSLab, an industry-standard grounding and lightning simulation platform. View certified users
Ivan Grobbelaar
MSc Eng · Int. PE · CEng MIEI
Principal Engineer & Co-Founder
Ivan develops practical lightning and surge protection solutions, with particular experience in photovoltaic and energy infrastructure. His work focuses on turning complex technical requirements into clear, vendor-neutral designs and specifications.
Eduard Shulzhenko
Dr.-Ing.
Principal Engineer & Co-Founder
Eduard leads advanced engineering studies involving lightning, earthing, overvoltage and electromagnetic compatibility. He uses numerical simulation and physics-based analysis to identify hidden risks and develop technically defensible, site-specific solutions.
Philipp Aurbach
M.Eng.
Software Engineer & Business Developer
Philipp drives business development and software initiatives at IONLINX. He combines commercial perspective with technology development to identify customer needs, improve engineering workflows and create digital tools that make technical expertise more accessible and scalable.
Industries & Applications
- Energy assets wind farms & turbines, PV facilities, hydrogen facilities, charging infrastructure for battery & EV
- Transmission infrastructure substations, grid infrastructure, pipelines & linear infrastructure (transmission lines, underground cables, geothermal piping), railway
- Building complexes data centres, industrial facilities, airports, telecom towers, other high-risk electrical assets
Same Physics. Different Constraints. The physical principles for earthing, lightning, overvoltage & EMC are the same across different applications. Our methods are applicable for all types of electrical infrastructure.
Initial discussion
Clarify the site, available data, technical question, project phase, and required decision.
Scope and proposal
Define methodology, assumptions, deliverables, timeline, and fee in a written proposal.
Engineering study
Perform the agreed simulations, calculations, standards assessment, and technical evaluation.
Results and decision support
Deliver the results, explain the conclusions, answer technical questions, and support the next engineering steps.
Engagement & Pricing
Especially for first-time clients, we often do a smaller pilot project or a risk assessment. This already provides quick wins. You always receive a clear quotation upfront.
Contact
Tell us about the asset and the question — we'll come back with how we'd approach it.
Prefer email directly? info@ionlinx.com
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