Detection and Localization of Faults in a Regional Power Grid

Abstract

The structure of power flows in transmission grids is evolving and is likely to change significantly in the coming years due to the rapid growth of renewable energy generation that introduces randomness and bidirectional power flows. Another transformative aspect is the increasing penetration of various smart-meter technologies. Inexpensive measurement devices can be placed at practically any component of the grid. Using model data, we propose a two-stage procedure for detecting a fault in a regional power grid. In the first stage, a fault is detected in real time. In the second stage, the faulted line is identified with a negligible delay. The approach uses only the voltage modulus measured at buses (nodes of the grid) as the input. Our method does not require prior knowledge of the fault type. The method is fully implemented in R. Pseudo code and complete mathematical formulas are provided.