Reliability assessment of power system backup protection in smart grid control center using phasor measurement units (PMU)

Abstract

Catastrophic failures in power grid due to mal-operation of traditional backup protection system (e.g. third zone of distance relays) was one of the main causes of many cascade trips. This paper assess a new wide-area backup protection system (WABPS) based on phasor measurement units (PMU), to improve third zone of distance relays to avoid its mal-operation. Based on this assessment, phasor measurement units with high speed communication system such as fiber optic and using time transfer with GPS system have dynamic adjustment for reliable backup protection system to avoid mal-operation. The new backup protection system is based on phasor measurement units (PMU) obtained from studies on the IEEE 9 bus test system using Matlab Simulink. It can successfully distinguish between actual and virtual faults for interconnected lines.