Adaptive protective scheme for

Distributed Generation

Term Project: - EE5223 Power System Protection (Spring 2017)

Team: -
Siddharth Wadhawan
Abhishek N
1.1 INTRODUCTION

With the increase in the yearly demand for energy, utilities around the globe are setting up distributed generation
units such as photovoltaics, wind turbines and diesel generation units. These units being located close to the loads
provide additional benefits of reducing the system losses, increased system reliability and power quality
improvement. Thus, the main task for power engineers today is to integrate these generation sources into the
existing network. However, this integration leads to new problems. This is because all distribution networks are
designed to operate radially where power flows only in one direction from the source to load. However, with
addition of distributed generation units close to the loads, the directionality and fault current values are greatly
affected.

Another important aspect of power systems is to protect the power network with high selectivity and reliability. Thus,
the relays should be properly coordinated to isolate only the faulty part of the system. Power systems networks are
complex dynamic systems whose parameters and states vary continuously. Thus, a properly coordinated protection
scheme ensures no mal-operation or dual operation of protective devices. In any power system network, transmission
lines form a critical component and require protection strategies that can effectively discriminate between faulty and
normal operating conditions. Traditionally, power system components are protected using overcurrent protection
scheme in which the relay trips for a predetermined fault current value. Also to isolate only the faulty part a time
discrimination is added to the overcurrent protection element. However, the determination of fault are affected by,

Inaccuracies in CT, VT measurement.

The first kind of errors can be avoided by using high accuracy CTs, using zero sequence and negative sequence
currents to discriminate between different fault types. Microprocessor relays also have features to develop algorithms
to detect high impedance faults and use communication channels to communicate with other relays to identify fault
conditions. However, for the second category of errors induced due to dynamic nature of the power system are
difficult to ascertain and such a situation is dealt with by doing offline worst-case scenario studies and setting the
relays to the worst case operating scenarios. However, this leads to large safety margins thereby compromising the
dependability of the power system network, which is a major concern for most utilities and system operators. At
the same time, over tripping or sympathetic tripping can easily happen in the case of inappropriate settings.

The above-mentioned problems arising due to the dynamic nature of the power system network can be improved
upon by using an adaptive protection scheme. Adaptive protective scheme refers to adjusting various protection
functions in order to make them attuned to the prevailing power system network conditions. In this project, an
adaptive protection scheme for overcurrent protection scheme is presented. An initial study showing the effect of
distributed generation on the relay trip settings is shown. A 11 bus power system network configuration is selected
to carry out the analysis.
2.0 Effect of Distributed Generation on Protection System.

The traditional protection system has been designed by taking into consideration the system as radial. However,
when a DG is connected into the system, the radial feature is lost and the co-ordination might not work properly.
The reason is the intermittent nature of Distributed Generation (such as Wind, Solar) which cause the impedance of
the system to change thus causing mis-operation of relays present in system. Some of the problems present below
due to presence of distributed generation are as follows: -

Reverse Power Flow: There is unidirectional power flow for the radial distribution network flowing from source to
load. With the presence of DG in system, the generation in distribution feeder is affected and if the local production
exceeds local consumption the power flow will reverse and the protection system design has to be modified
accordingly.

Increase Fault Level: When a generator is connected in a distribution network the fault current rises close to the
point of connection. If a distributed generation is now present near such a network, it will increase fault level which
causes damage and failure of plant, and risk to life of personnel. The new value setting for relay have to be
calculated depending upon the change in fault current in the system.

Protection Coordination: By connecting DGs into the grid, the issues related to system protection turns to be very
significant. To better understand as to how to the co-ordination in protection system is affected let us consider the
following diagram with interconnected DG (DG1, DG2 and DG3).

Figure 1 Simple distribution network with two DG units

Figure 2 Distribution network with single DG unit

In this case, for a downstream fault, e.g., a fault in line 3 relays R1, R2, and R3 will see the downstream fault current,
which is greater than the fault current without DG1. Then R3 will have to eliminate the fault with greater sensitivity
because of the larger fault current. The situation will be similar for a given fault in line 2 or line 1. For an upstream
fault, that is to say, a fault that occurs before bus-bar B1, relays R1, R2, and R3 will never see the upstream fault
current and will not be activated. Meanwhile, the overcurrent relay of DG1 (R4) will sense a fault current and then
separate DG1 from the utility system. Thus, the selectivity and coordination of R1, R2, and R3 will hold for
downstream faults.

Only DG2 is connected

Figure 3 Distribution network with DG2 and fault in line 1.

When a fault occurs in line 2, if R2 does not trip, R1 cannot provide backup protection because the DG2 still feeds
the fault current. Similarly, for a fault in line 3, relay R1 cannot provide backup protection if R3 and R2 do not trip as
a primary protection. When a fault accrues before bus-bar B1, relay R1 will see a reversed fault current and operate
when the fault current value is greater than the set value. Meanwhile, DG2 and the downstream loads will form an
island.
Only DG3 is connected
When only DG3 is connected, relays R2 and R3 will sense the downstream current for faults in line 3 and
upstream current for faults in line 1. It is important to note here that for any given downstream or upstream fault,
these relays will sense the same fault current, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Distribution network with DG3 and faults in line 1 and line [Link] 4.

This result will create a conflict as these relays sense the same current for either of these faults, and it is impossible to
achieve coordination with the existing scheme. Because it is required to clear only the faulted section, R3 must
operate before R2 for any fault in line 3, and R2 must operate before R3 for a fault in line 1. Relays R1 and R2
cannot isolate the fault in lines 1 and 2 because the DG3 feeds the faults upstream.

DG1 and DG2 are connected

For the case when DG1 and DG2 are connected in the system, the maximum and minimum currents for a fault
downstream of DG2 will change. However, R3 will never sense a backflow for an upstream fault, which will require
R3 and R2 to be coordinated under different current settings. As inverse relays have sufficient tap and time settings
available, coordination of relays should not pose any problem. Relay R1 cannot isolate the faults in line 1 because
DG2 feeds the faults upstream.

DG2 and DG3 are connected

When DG2 and DG3 are connected and there is a fault in line 1, relay R1 will response to a fault in line 1, and relay
R2 will see the reversed fault currents contributed by DG2 and DG3. In this case, the upstream currents are
proportional to the capacities of DG2 and DG3; therefore, the corresponding operation time of R1 and R2 is related
to the fault injection capabilities of DG2 and DG3. Relays R1 and R2 cannot isolate the faults in their lines because
DG2 and DG3 feed the faults upstream.

From this the following conclusions can be drawn about Protection Co-ordination: -

The protection devices downstream of the last DG will never see fault current for an upstream fault. If these devices
can see the increased fault current due to penetration of DG, there will be no problem in coordinating them.
However,
if the protection devices observe fault currents for upstream faults, there are two possibilities: firstly, if they see the
same fault current for a fault downstream as well as for a fault upstream, then coordination will be lost. Secondly, if
they see different current for a downstream or upstream fault, there is a margin available for coordination to remain
valid. If disparity in fault currents seen by devices is greater than the margin, then coordination holds. Therefore,
coordination is likely to hold if DG fault injection is excessive. In the case of fuse-recloser coordination, there is also
a margin available for coordination to remain valid. In this case, if the disparity in fault currents seen by these devices
is less than the margin, then coordination holds. Therefore, coordination is likely to hold if DG fault injection is
small.
3.0 System under Study

Figure 5 Aspen One-Liner Model for Test System

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