New Method on the Relays Protective Coordination

Due To Presence Of Distributed Generation

Ashrafi Habibabadi Reza
Islamic Azad University, Natanz Branch
Natanz, Iran
e-mail address: [email protected]

Abstract—The main purpose of this paper is to serve as a containing the cause of the fault.
guideline for assessing the impact of distributed generation (DG) The presented method can be simply extended to the case
on the protection coordination of the distribution network. In of multiple DG by considering the most updated coordination
particular, the paper details and presents a generalized charts, short circuit levels, and protection settings imposed by
assessment procedure for determining the impact of the the presence of initial DG installations. Then, the assessment
integration of DG on the protection practices of distribution method can be applied to determine the protection-based
systems.To ensure the relevancy and the compatibility with the penetration limit for additional DG on a given feeder. Due to
existing utility practices, demonstrations are carried out using the diversity of possible scenarios, a detailed study for a given
ETAP, which are the commonly used software for distribution
system should be carried using the presented guideline.
system protection planning.

Keywords-component; Distributed generation (DG), Protective

Coordination, protection device, Distribution System. II. CURRENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM PROTECTION
I. INTRODUCTION PRACTICES
The incorporation of Distributed generation (D.G) into A. Protection Devices
power systems can offer many major advantages. However, There are several protection devices used in the protection
besides its various benefits, distributed generation can cause of the different types of distribution systems. A List of the most
various negative impacts; careful assessment is required to common current protection devices is shown below:
evaluation that system reliability and security are conserved
following DG integration. Among these issues, protection 1. Instantaneous phase overcurrent relay (50P): it is used at
coordination is a major concern as it directly affects continuity the main feeder head end.
of service and reliability of service. The Distribution systems 2. Timed phase overcurrent relay (51P): it is also used at
are generally considered to be ready to support small DG the main feeder head end.
installations without much change. Furthermore, justifying
strategies can then be identified to improve any potential 3. Timed ground overcurrent relay (51G): it is also used at
problems. As we will be discussing hereafter, the addition of the main feeder head end.
DG to the distribution network may prevent the protective 4. Timed negative sequence overcurrent relay for phase-
device from detecting a fault, which is supposed to be within phase faults (46): it is also used at the main feeder head end
its protection zone. It may also result in the loss of coordination (not used as recommended in the Canadian benchmark
between two protective devices. It is important to understand distribution systems [4]).
that this depends strongly on the type of DG, its size, and
location in the network. [1] 5. Impedance relay (21) (not used as recommended in the
Canadian benchmark distribution systems [4]).
In the same way that distributed generators bring benefits,
they have a potential of significant impact on the operation, 6. Reclosers (70).
protection and control of the distribution or transmission 7. Current limiting fuses.
systems. The introduction of these generators implies load
current redistribution, increases fault currents, and may also 8. Differential protection for station bus only.
cause overvoltage problems. Thus, a fundamental requirement
to approve their connection is a good coordination between the The selection of the relay settings differs from utility to
protection schemes of the independent generators and the utility. But there are general rules are used to select the setting
utility [2]. The coordination of protection devices aims to of each relay. For example, the pickup setting of the timed
maintain the selectivity among the devices involved in several phase overcurrent relay is selected to be secure under normal
fault possibilities, in order to assure the safe operation and the loading condition and to be dependable under over loading or
reliability of the electric system [3]. In an efficient and short circuit conditions. Some utilities prefer to use lower
coordinated protection system, faults are eliminated in the pickup setting for the relay to ensure dependability under
smallest possible time, isolating the smallest part of the system overloading condition and other utilities prefer to use slightly

978-1-4577-1600-3/12/$26.00 © 2012 IEEE

higher pickup setting of the relay to ensure reliability in case of one feeder may respond to faults in the other feeder due to back
temporary overloading. The time dial setting (TDS) and the feed especially if DG is installed in the healthy feeder. Also,
curve type of the relay is selected according to coordination this issue should be considered during the design stage of the
criteria of utility. protection system.
B. Coordination of Protection Devices 5. Overvoltage considerations: overvolatges may occur
Almost all electric utilities use the concept of overlapped during faults if the system is ungrounded. This problem is
zones in the coordination of the overcurrent protection devices. obvious if a DG is installed and interfaced via ungrounded
This means that each zone should have its own primary transformer with the main feeder.
protection and a backup protection facility that operates in case
of primary protection failure. In most of the cases, the backup
protection is the next upstream protection device to the III. IMPACT STUDIES AND A GENERALIZED METHOD TO
protected zone. Backup protection should operate only when ASSESS THE IMPACT OF DG ON SYSTEM PROTECTION
the primary protection stuck and didn’t operate. Fig. 1 shows a A number of protection issues, such as loss of coordination,
typical radial distribution system. For the fault shown, the fuse de-sensitisation, nuisance fuse blowing, bidirectional relay
F1should respond very fast to this fault, as this fuse is the requirements and overvoltage, should be addressed in order to
primary protective device of this zone. The relay–circuit arrive at the penetration limits of DG in an existing distribution
breaker set (R1-B1) are considered the backup protection for system. In this section, a generalized method to assess the
the marked zone that should operate in case of F1 failure. This impact of DG on distribution system protection is developed.
implies that operating time of R1 should be larger than that of To simplify the study, each protection impact is studied
F1 for any fault in the marked zone. individually to determine the penetration limit that triggers this
issue. The method is demonstrated using the suburban
benchmark distribution system. The DG locations might be
dictated according to customer requirements. The penetration
limit will be calculated for these specific points.
A. Loss of Coordination
1) Impact definition
In normal operation, protection devices are coordinated
such that the primary protection operates before the backup can
take action. Interconnecting the DG increases the short circuit
Figure 1. A typical radial distribution feeder. level.Depending on the original protection coordination
settings along with the size, location and type of the DG,
There are some issues that should be considered during the uncoordinated situations may be yielded. In these situations,
preparation of any coordination study: the backup operates before the primary, which results in
1. Mis-coordination problem: this means that the nuisance tripping to some of the loads. To illustrate the impact
coordination study should avoid any miscoordination between of DG on the loss of coordination, consider the system depicted
the protective devices. For example, for the system shown in in Fig. 2, with a 2 MVA synchronous-type DG connected at
Fig. 1, the fuse F1 (primary protection) should operate before bus 4 through a Gnd Wye (pri)/Delta (sec) interconnection
the relay R1 (backup protection) for any fault on the protected transformer. Fig. 2 depicts the coordination chart for the
zone. This ensures the selectivity. coordination path from the utility to bus 4. As shown in Fig. 3,
the short circuit current at bus 4 before installing the DG was
2. Fuse saving strategy: this strategy saves the fuse from 2836 A, so, the recloser and the fuse are fully coordinated at
blowing during temporary faults.This strategy is done using a this value of short circuit current. For the coordination chart in
recloser that opens the circuit and recloses it again very fast to Fig. 4, the coordination is maintained up to a short circuit
clear the temporary fault and save the fuse. This is done in rural current level equals to 3051A, which is the intersection point
and suburban distribution systems. between the fast curve of the recloser and the clearing curve of
3. Sensitivity of the main head end relay: this means that the fuse. If the short circuit current is increased beyond this
the main feeder head end relay should sense any fault in the limit, the coordination between the recloser and the main
main feeder under any condition. The addition of the DG, for lateral fuse will be lost.
example, to the distribution system might reduce the fault This is the case when the 2 MVA DG is installed, where the
current level drawn from the main substation. This will in turn short circuit current at bus 4 increases to 3604 A, and as a
affect the operation of the substation breaker or recloser result the fuse will blow up and the service will be interrupted
especially on their ability to “see” the fault. This will be highly at this section. Depending on the system configuration, the loss
dependant on the type, size and location of the DG. The main of coordination can take place between any pair of protective
relay of the feeder should be designed to overcome such devices, i.e., fuse-recloser, fuse-fuse, and so on. In each case,
problems. the minimum short circuit current that leads to the loss of
4. Bi-directionality: this issue is obvious for radial feeders coordination will help in identifying the permissible
that are fed from the same substation. Protection devices on penetration level of DG. The coordination of protection devices
aims to maintain the selectivity among the devices involved in
several fault possibilities, in order to assure the safe operation
and the reliability of the electric system [5]. In an efficient and
coordinated protection system, faults are eliminated in the
smallest possible time, isolating the smallest part of the system
containing the cause of the fault.

Figure 4. Coordination chart for the path from the utility to bus 4 with a 2
MVA DG installed in the suburban system.
Figure 2. Suburban benchmark system with the DG installation candidate
points.
2) A generalized method to assess the loss of coordination
penetration limits
The goal of this section is to develop a generalized
procedure that determines the penetration limit of DG, in terms
of size, location, and technology, from the point of view of loss
of coordination. The general procedure can be summarized in
the following steps:
1. In a given system, define different coordination paths. A
coordination path can be defined as a set of protective devices
located along a circuit path starting from the main feeder
breaker to the most down stream protective device. The fact
that most of the lateral (or sub-laterals) fuses are selected to be
similar (to ease the maintenance), leads to a limited number of
different coordination paths. A single coordination path might
represent many laterals utilizing the same types of fuses.
2. Perform the coordination study and construction the
coordination charts for different protection paths for the system
under study.
3. Observe the minimum short circuit current at which the
loss of coordination may occur among all protection
coordination paths. This current may be the intersection
Figure 3. Coordination chart for the path from the utility to bus 4 without between the coordination curves of two successive protection
DG in the suburban system. devices. It should be noted this minimum current might not
exist in the case where there is no intersection between the
coordination curves. In such a case, there will be no limit for
the installed DG to violate the system coordination.
4. Define the candidate points at which the DG may be
installed. The penetration limit will be calculated for these
specific points. These candidate points may be obtained from a
planning study to determine the optimum location of DG to Start
minimize system losses and improve the voltage profile, or it
might be dictated by the customer.
Define the protection paths in
5. Simulate the installation the DG at the first candidate the distribution system under study
point, then increase the DG size and its interfacing transformer
step by step until reaching the minimum short circuit current
for the loss of coordination, then record the DG size. It should Perform the coordination study
be noted that increasing the size of the DG and its interfacing and construct the coordination
charts of the protection paths
transformer inherently increases the short circuit MVA for the existing system
capacity of the combined DG/transformer set. The DG
impedance estimation function in ETAP provides a useful tool Outcome of
to determine the DG impedance based on its rating. The Define candidate points for DG planning study
installation
impedance estimation tool is based on the IEEE Violet Book or customer
requirements
guidelines [6].
Using the coordination charts,
In addition, the interfacing transformer impedance can be determine the minimum short
estimated based on its rating parameters. This function is circuit current that yields loss
of coordination
available in ETAP as well.
6. Repeat step 5 for other candidate points.
7. Tabulate the results. Does the minimum No limit for the
short circuit current
8. Change the DG technology by considering the cases of that yields loss of
loss of
coordination
synchronous, inverter or induction-based generators, and then coordination exists?

repeat steps 5 to 7, tabulate the results at each case.

A flow chart representing aforementioned procedure is
shown in Fig. 5. Install the DG at the first candidate point
and conduct short circuit studies

IV. CONCLUSION
Upgrading some components can mitigate the loss of
coordination. A new coordination study with the DG installed Increase the DG size step by step and
can be conducted to determine the appropriate sizing and perform the short circuit study until the
occurrence of the loss of coordination
upgrades of protection devices; most probably fuses. The new
protection coordination study will ensure no loss of
coordination even with the increase of the short circuit current Record the DG size
by moving the intersection point of the primary and backup
protection coordination curves to the right hand side on the
time-current coordination curve. Install the DG a t
Last candidate point
the next
reached?
candidate point and
REFERENCES conduct
short circuit studies

[1] P. Barker and R. W. de Mello, “Determining the impact of distributed

Tabulate the results
generation on power systems: Part 1—Radial power systems,” in Proc.
IEEE Power Eng. Soc. Summer Power Meeting, 2000, pp. 1645–1658.
[2] T. N. Tavares, J. G. Rolim, “Evaluation of the Impact Caused on the
Protection by the Connection of Independent Producers to the Energy All technologies
Distribution Systems (In Portuguese)”, in XV National Seminar Change the DG
tested?
technology
onElectrical Energy Distribution – SENDI 2002, Bahia, Brazil,Nov.
2002.
[3] P.M. Anderson, “Power System Protection”, IEEE Press, Ed. Mc Graw
Hill, New Jersey, 1999. End
[4] Dick, E.P. and Narang, A., “Canadian Urban Benchmark Distribution
Systems”, Report #CETC-Varennes 2005-121 (TR), CANMET Energy
Technology Centre-Varennes, Natrual Resource Canada, July 2005.
Figure 5. A generalized method to assess the loss of coordination penetration
[5] A. Apostolov, B. Vandiver, Automatic Test System Advances limits.
Transformer Protection, IEEE Computer Applications in Power, vol. 13,
pp. 31-36, 2000. M. Ilic, “The information technology (IT) role in
future energy generation”, in:Proceedings of the Power Engineering
Society Winter Meeting IEEE, vol. 1, 2001, pp.196–198.
[6] IEEE Recommended Practice for Calculating Short-Circuit Currents in
Industrial and Commercial Power Systems, IEEE Standard 551-2006.