Dynamic protection of power systems with high penetration of renewables: A review of the traveling wave based fault location techniques

Abstract

Governments set more ambitious goals about CO2 emission reductions and increasing the share of clean energy in the overall generation portfolio. A natural outcome of this trend is more deployment of renewables both at transmission and distribution networks. In addition to well-known environmental benefits, introduction of these non-conventional technologies changes the operation of power systems: e.g. reduced inertia, less stability and more unpredictability. Since most of these novel generation technologies are inverter-interfaced, their behavior under fault conditions are much different than conventional rotating machines. This creates novel challenges in power system protection. Accurate determination of location and type of a fault provides faster system restoration, increased reliability and cost benefits. There are various methods utilized for power system protection. Travelling wave-based fault location methods are preferred due to high accuracy and ultrafast detection capability. This paper reviews the latest developments in traveling wave-based fault location techniques. Signal processing methods hold a key role in information extraction since traveling wave transients have high frequency. A critical review of these methods reported in literature is presented. Application of travelling wave-based protection techniques is examined and special focus is given to distribution systems with high penetration of renewable energy-based generators. Traveling wave-based protection techniques have tremendous potential for future protection applications in smart grid scenarios viz. microgrids and active distribution systems. Being able to detect a fault under different current and voltage conditions make them a very strong candidate for achieving adaptive protection in power systems with high penetration of renewables. Finally, implementation of travelling wave-based fault location system based on IEC 61850 standard is also investigated. Having a standardized implementation is a solid step towards achieving plug-and-play (PnP) in dynamic power networks.