Surge arrester assembly

A surge arrester assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of parallel-connected surge arrester units, each of which comprises a stack of a plurality of cylindrical arrester elements, made of metal oxide varistor material, arranged one after the other in the axial direction of the arrester elements between two end electrodes and surrounded by an elongated outer casing of polymeric material;
• said surge arrester units being arranged in arrester groups, each of said arrester groups comprising two coaxially superposed arrester units, said arrester groups being arranged in parallel adjacent to each other in one or more rows, whereby those arrester groups which are included in such a row are squeezed in the axial direction between two parallel support beams of metal, which are fixedly connected to each other with the aid of connecting elements extending between the beams;
• and
• the two support beams in each row of such groups being both electrically and mechanically connected to each other and forming one of the connecting poles in the parallel connection, the connection points between the two arrester units in the different groups being interconnected through a separate conductor which forms the other connecting pole in the parallel connection, said connecting poles being provided with connection members for connection of the arrester assembly into an electric network, said connection members being located at one end of said rows.