The 8th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC 2017)

Applying Adaptive protection scheme to Mitigate

The Impact of Distributed Generator on Existing
Distribution Network
Saad. M. Saad , Naser El Naily , Abdelsalam Elhaffar , K. El-Arroudi , and Faisal A. Mohamed
University of Benghazi, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Benghazi, Libya
College of Electrical and Electrical Technology, Benghazi, Libya
Sultan Qaboos University, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Muscat, Oman
Authority of Natural Science Research and Technology, Tripoli, Libya
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Canada

E-mails: { {smuftahndi & naseralnaile222 }@gmail.com, elhaffar@ieee.org, khalil.elarroudi@mail.mcgill.ca and elabdli@hotmail.com}

AbstractMany studies indicate the importance of distributed
generation (DG) as one of the best alternatives to conventional
energy sources. The growth in population is causing a significant
increase in electricity demand all over the world, which creat-
ing a considerable need for further investment in the electric
network infrastructure. However, integration of new renewable
energy source in the distribution network (DN) could impact
the stability and the reliability of the distribution network if
successful integration of renewable and distributed generation
into the distribution network not achieved. Successful integration
of distributed energy resources requires optimized control and
planning for the network configuration which relies basically
on the decentralized energy source management and protection
system coordination. The aim of this study is to investigate the
impact of utilizing DG on the performance of DN, especially on
the over-current protective devices. Also, introducing a proposed
adaptive protection scheme to mitigate the influence of DG
penetration on the protection coordination by adding group
setting, which exists in nowadays numerical protective relays, for
different operating conditions such as islanding mode, and full
MVA capacity of a DG. The simplified power system simulated
in NEPLAN and ETAP packages represents Benghazi medium
voltage distribution network. The simulation and results show
the effectiveness of the proposed approach on the reliability and
stability of the distribution network.
Index TermsPower distribution. Fault protection. Distributed
power generation
I. I NTRODUCTION
Many terminologies used to refer the new type of generation
such as embedded generation, distributed generation, and
distributed energy resources. Distributed generation (DG) can
be defined as a small-scale generation connected directly to
the distribution network near from the customer locations,
and differ in the technology applied, from wind turbines,
photovoltaics, and not limited to synchronous machines [1].
The orientation to interconnect distributed generation units
comes from its advantages in shaving load profile in the peak
period, and reduce the power system infrastructure when
supplying remote load, and the power losses comes from
sending power supply for long distances [2].
978-1-5090-6751-0/17/$31.00 2017 IEEE
The uncertainty in the price and availability of non-renewable
energy sources, and the world energy policy on using
clean energy increase shares of distributed energy resources
comprising distributed and renewable sources. The beneficial
features of interconnecting DG to the electric network poses
a critical challenge to the operation and control of the electric
network. In addition, high penetration of DG may change the
distribution network configuration.
The technical issues arise from the integration of DG require
novel solutions and recommendations which been noted for
several years, since DG nowadays responsible for providing
large power to the distribution network. Numerous technical
details should be considered when DG connected to the
distribution network. A significant set of studies had been
introduced to mitigate the influence of DG on the power
quality and protection system of the distribution network. [3].
Integration of DGs in the DN introduce challenges associated
with protection coordination of protective devices in the
DN. The increase in the short circuit level and change in
fault current directions in the DN influence the protection
coordination between relays installed in the DN, and
disturb the functionality and the selectivity of those relays.
Furthermore, blinding of protective devices and unintended
islanding and false tripping are the most common protection
problems associated with integrating DGs in the DN.
Introducing DGs require optimization for the protection
coordination settings and coordination. Acquiring the
optimum relay coordination and operation time has been
optimized using different optimization techniques, and can
be characterized as conventional methods and artificial
intelligence methods. The conventional technique based
on trial and error to optimize protection coordination. The
artificial intelligence techniques based on a smart adaptive
scheme to manipulate and optimize the protection system
coordination [4][9].
The aim of this paper is to illustrate and investigate the
impact of DG on the coordination of distribution network
protection system and proposed an adaptive protection
scheme to manipulate and mitigate the influences come from
changing the short circuit level and altering in the direction
of power flow. The study presents a portion of the Eastern
Libyan electric network. The system simulated with NEPLAN
package and different scenarios had been created to examine
and test the proposed approach.
II. PROTECTION P ROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH
PENETRATION OF DG
The purpose of protection coordination in presence of
DG is to protect DG against external as well as internal
faults. Therefore, the concepts of protection coordination
are to design the proper coordination based on the power
flow and the importance of the distributed generation. A
new configuration for the setting of protective devices should
carried out..
The traditional protection coordination philosophy for radial
DN is quite simple, which rely on the fact that the network is
passive, since it contains only loads. The penetration of DG
in the DN require a change in the structure and topology of
the protection system, owing to the change in the power flow
directions. Bi-directionality in the power flow convert the
Distribution Network topology from being radial to become
looped topology, and need modifying in the setting and the
characteristics of the protective devices in the DN [12].
Blinding of protection is one of the common problems. From
Fig. 1 blinding of protection could occur when the fault
strike on the feeder adjacent to the feeder consisting DG.
In this case DG contribute a portion of the fault current,
wherefore the contribution from the grid to the fault location
would decrease. As a result, the sensitivity of the protective
device installed on the feeder will decrease and cause a delay
in the operation time and maintain the fault for a longer
time than expected, contributed current from DG could even
prevent the protective device from picking up. Selectivity of
the protection system will be tolerated as a consequence of
such a phenomena. More consideration should be taken into
account when DG connected in the DN.
Fig. 1. False tripping due to fault in another feeder
False tripping refers to when fault strike while DG connected
to the same substation, the contribution from the DG to
the fault could cause nuisance trip in the operation of the
protective device connected on the feeder consisting the DG.
The probability of the protective device to false trip depends
on the capacity of the DG, and its location on the feeder.
The operation of autorecloser in overhead transmission line
also influenced by the presence of DG. The contributed
current from DG to the faulty feeder affects the operation
of the autorecloser and prevent it from clearing the fault
properly and even causing failure in autorecloser mechanism.
Islanding also one of the problems appear when the main
supply disconnected and the DG still supply power to a part
of the network, which affect personnel, and cause poor power
quality in the supplied section by the DG. Other protection
problems caused by DG could impact the operation and
performance of the protection system in the DN such as,
neutral shifting, resonance, and fuse saving operation, which
require further adjustments in the protection system topology
and design.
III. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
The approach proposed in this study based on the adaptive
setting method which is an on-line activity that changes the
Time Current Characteristic (TCC) group of the protective
relays in a case of any change in system configuration by mean
of control action. The proposed adaptive feature in numerical
relays modifies automatically the protective device settings
based on the system topology and DG capacity to maintain the
coordinated overcurrent relays with the optimum selectivity
and sensitivity. The internal logic functions (called contiguous
function chart CFC) in the numerical relay are designed
to sense the events and send the signal either through any
available communication medium to the targeted relays. The
protection settings are adapted to the changes in the network
configuration using the communication media available. In this
paper, the wireless network (Elmadar), which has a very good
coverage, and has been adopted as the main link among the
protection relays [13]. The proposed methodology avails the
advantage of communication technology and digital protective
devices that exist nowadays to design an automatic protection
coordination based on the network operator experience. Its
already well-known fact that, the modern relays have the
ability to switch between multiple groups of TCC curves
based on the system operating conditions [14]. The proposed
algorithm define two group of current settings, based on the
DG capacity and the fault current contributed from the DG.
IV. S YSTEM D ESCRIPTION AND S IMULATION S ETUP
Fig. 2 shows a network represents the Eastern Libyan
Distribution Network in NEPLAN package [15] and validated
with ETAP software [16]. The system parameters shown in
Table.I A 25 MVA DG is connected to 30-KV bus-bar to
fed the network. DG represented as an equivalent thevinen
source behind its impedance to investigate the influence of
DG penetration on the existing distribution network. From the
simulation studies, it is obvious that the system requires 22
over-current relays (OCR). Each OCR installed and designed
 Fig. 2. Single line diagram the distribution network
to operate correctly and efficiently for different type of faults
in their protected zone. Penetration of DG in the DN change
the topology of the network, and switch it from been radial
system to a looped system.
In this study three different scenarios had been carried out,
the first without DG and DN only fed by main feeder, and
with DG connected, and finally DG in islanding mode. Each
scenario employed with a different protection coordination by
mean of adaptive scheme. All the power system parameters
calculated according to IEC 60909.
Three-phase fault generated in different bus-bars for the
three scenarios. Table.II shows the contributed fault currents
from the main feeder and the distributed generator in those
scenarios and the operating time of each OCR. (Group A)
is used in case of DN without DG, and (Group B) in case
of DN with DG, and (Group C) in case of islanding mode.
Table.III shows the CT values and plug setting (PS) and
optimum Time Multiplying Setting (TMS) for each OCR in
each different scenario. Dir. refer to activating directionality TABLE I
function in the specific relay, and letters A, B, C beside each PARAMETERS OF POWER SYSTEM EQUIPMENT ACCORDING TO IEC 60909
METHOD
relay indicate the group setting used for each scenario.
Network Feeder Isc-3 = 6.74 83.5

V. PROTECTION COORDINATION OF (Main Bus) Isc-1 = 3.3 78.9

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK WITHOUT DG Z0/Z1 = 4.1272727
R0/X0 = 0.1961922
Consider the fault at Bus3-30 in Fig. 2, the fault occurs on
R1/X1 = 0.1139356
bus-bar far from the main feeder. In a case of fault striking at
220/30KV 100 MVA Transformer Positive sequence data:
Bus3-30, OC5 should act as a primary relay to clear the fault
copper losses=0.4%
at Bus 3-30, and OC4 as a back-up relay. The contribution impedance voltage= 12.76%
from the main feeder to the fault location is 10.432 KA and Zero sequence data:
the relay pick-up setting for OC5 is 540 A, the PMS can be copper losses=0.45%
calculated by dividing the fault current by the pick-up current impedance voltage=12%
which yields 19.3. The operating time for OC5 based on the 30/11KV 20 MVA Transformer Positive sequence data:
inverse characteristic of the relay is 1.33 s, this significant copper losses=0.43%
time delay exceeding one second is given for the relays and impedance voltage= 9.88%
fuses of the low voltage to operate before OC5 to clear the XLPE 630mm2 30KV Cable R1=0.04 ohm/km
fault, so the TMS for OC5 should be greater than the inverse X1=0.114 ohm/km
characteristic of the low voltage protective relays. OC1 is the R0=0.2587 ohm/km
relay on the main feeder, which operates as the last step in X0= 0.0614 ohm/km
the coordination for a fault at Bus 3-30, with 0.3 s grading
margin the operating time for OC1 is 2.25 s, the TMS chosen
for OC1 should be large enough to give a time margin for
relays OC4, OC3, OC2 to operate before OC1 operation. mode, TMS should be increased to protect BUS 4-30 for the
However, introducing DG in the Distribution network could relativity low short circuit current fed from DG.
result in loss of protective device coordination.The IEC
standard inverse characteristic equation of over-current relay
is:
0.14 T M S
ti = I
(1)
f
[ ipickup ]0.02 1
Where:
T M S is the time multiplying setting of relay i.
If is the fault current seen by relay i.
Ipickup is the pick up current of relay i.

VI. IMPACT OF DG ON PROTECTION

COORDINATION OF DISTRIBUTED NETWORK
Coordination of protection system when DG connected to
the DN is insistent, since the contribution from DG to fault
current is significant, also altering the directions of power
flow compared to the traditional radial system.For almost all
the relays in the simulated system the optimized value is
slightly lower than the Old Setting value, due to the increase
in the short circuit level when DG connected to the DN.
The TMS should be higher than the un-optimized value to
maintain the operating time as before connecting DG. From
Fig. 3 in ETAP software, the fault current at Bus 4-30 after
connecting the DG reach 9.496 KA, since OC7 is the primary
protection for faults at Bus 4-30, the operating time for OC7
relay should be kept as before connecting DG. For that TMS
should be slightly decreased to 0.32 to keep the operating
Fig. 3. Relay OC7 Inverse time Characteristics for Different Group Setting
time close to the value before connecting DG, which result
in operating time of 1.01 s. While in case of islanding
 TABLE II
RELAYS PERFORMANCE IN DIFFERENT SCENARIOS

Fault
Three phase fault
Location
IF
Without DG With DG IF (Amp) Islanding
(Amp)
O.T O.T IF
R.U R.U O.T (sec.) Feeder(Amp) DG(Amp) R.U
(Sec.) (Sec.) (Amp)
Bus4-11 7783 OC10A 0.41 OC10B 0.41 2452 531 OC10C 0.8 4151
OC9A 0.85 OC9B 0.85 OC9C 0.39
OC8A 0.91 OC8B 0.91 OC8C 0.39
Bus4-30 8286 OC7A 0.95 OC7B 1.01 7785 1685 OC7C 1.10 2343
OC1A 2.76 OC1B 2.70 OC5C 1.44
Bus3-30 10432 OC5A 1.32 OC5B 1.40 10179 2204 OC4C 2.64 2484
OC1A 2.29 OC1B 2.24 OC5C 2.64
Bus2-30 11793 OC3A 1.72 OC3B 1.69 11793 2553 - - -
OC1A 2.09 OC1B 2.05 - - -
Line (1Km) 12234 OC2A 1.72 OC2B 1.69 12234 2534 - - -
OC3A 3.39 OC3B 0.45 - - -
OC1A 2.05 OC1B 2.00 - - -
Bus7-30 10044 OC15A,OC21A 0.95 OC15B,OC21B 1.00 9642 1908 - - -
OC1A 2.37 OC1B 2.32 - - -
Bus6-30 11072 OC13A,OC19A 1.1 OC13B,OC19B 1.17 10797 2136 - - -
OC1A 2.21 OC1B 2.16 - - -
Bus5-30 11667 OC11A,OC17A 1.21 OC11B,OC17B 1.29 11481 2272 - - -
OC1A 2.13 OC1B 2.08 - - -

VII. ISLANDING PROTECTION OF THE
DISTRIBUTION NETWORK WITH DG
Islanding occurs when DG continues to energize a portion
from the distribution network and could pose a security issues
for maintenance personnel. The separated section should
be fed with electric supply comply with power quality and
protection requirements. In case of islanding mode, DG will
feed only loads on BUS 4-30KV, BUS 3-30KV, and BUS
4-11KV. The load will be shared equally on those bus-bars,
each bus-bar with 7 MW, and rest of the network will be
disconnected. Therefore, new configuration for the protection
coordination for the protective relays on the islanded bus-bars
should be optimized since the short circuit level will decrease
to a lower level. From Table.III, the reduction in Time
Multiplying Setting (TMS) of the protective relays would
be obvious to mitigate the influence of DG on the protected
bus-bars, blinding of protection or delay in the operating time
of the relays would happen if the protection coordination will
not be optimized. The adaptive scheme for the protection
coordination will give the ability for OCR to switch to
another group setting to protect the islanded bus-bars.
Fig. 4 in NEPLAN shows the time characteristics of OCR7
in case of fault at Bus 4-30 in the three different scenarios.
The fault current when no DG connected is 8.286 KA, this
fault current requires from OCR7 to operate in 1 second
since OCR7 is a primary protective relay in case of fault at
Bus 4-30, after connecting DG to the DN, the fault current
will rise to 9.398 KA, therefore, the operating time of OCR7
should be kept for this value, for this TMS of OCR7 should
be decreased to 3.2 to keep the operating time close to
the value before connecting DG. In islanding mode, the
contribution to the fault location will be only from DG which
is 2.343 KA, the operating time for the relay will be higher
than in previous two cases, therefore TMS of OCR7 in case
of islanding mode will be 0.45 which operate OCR7 in
1.45 s in case of fault on Bus 4-30KV.
VIII. C ONCLUSION
Comparative study on the impact of DG on the protection
system for different operation conditions is demonstrated in
this paper. From this study it can be observed that the main
issue when connecting DG to the DN is the false tripping
and blinding of the over-current relay and islanding of DG,
Which influence the selectivity of the protection system. The
methodology used in this study is used to calculate TMS for
the near and far over-current relays. Comparison between
existing setting and the optimized setting in different scenarios
is carried out.The presence of DG in the Distribution network
needs more consideration and investigation from the network
operator to maintain the selectivity and reliability of the
protection system in different operating conditions.
R EFERENCES
[1] Maya K N, Jasmin E A, A Three Phase Power Flow Algorithm for Dis-
tribution Network Incorporating the Impact of Distributed Generation
Models. Procedia Technology, Volume 21, 2015, Pages 326-331.
 TABLE III
RELAYS COORDINATION SETTINGS

Relay C.T Group A Group B Group C

P.S T.M.S P.S T.M.S P.S T.M.S
OC1 2000/1 100% 0.54 100% 0.53 - -
OC2 1200/1 45% 0.76 45% 0.74 - -
OC3 1200/1 45% 0.76 45% 0.74 - -
OC4 1200/1 45% 0.58 45% 0.32 24% 0.44
OC5 1200/1 45% 0.58 45% 0.32 24% 0.44
OC6 1200/1 45% 0.4 45% 0.32 12% 0.45
OC7 1200/1 45% 0.4 45% 0.32 12% 0.45
OC8 400/1 100% 0.26 100% 0.26 35% 0.31
OC9 1200/1 100% 0.23 100% 0.18 92% 0.14
OC10 400/1 100% 0.23 100% 0.23 32% 0.28
OC11 1200/1 45% 0.45 45% 0.48 - -
OC12Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -
OC13 1200/1 45% 0.4 45% 0.42 - -
OC14Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -
OC15 1200/1 45% 0.33 45% 0.33 - -
OC16Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -
OC17 1200/1 45% 0.45 45% 0.48 - -
OC18Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -
OC19 1200/1 45% 0.4 45% 0.42 - -
Fig. 4. Relay OC7 Inverse time Characteristics for Different Group Setting OC20Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -
OC21 1200/1 45% 0.33 45% 0.33 - -
OC22Dir. 1200/1 45% 0.1 45% 0.1 - -

[2] Math Bollen and Fainan Hassan, Integration of Distributed Generation

in the Power System. First Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2011.
[3] D. N. Hussein, M. A. H. El-Sayed and H. A. Attia, Optimal sizing and [14] M. Chandran, S. Ravindra kumar Dr. P. Somasundaram, Smart and
siting of distributed generation. Power Systems Conference, 2006. Adaptive Over Current Protection for Distribution System with Dis-
MEPCON 2006. Eleventh International Middle East, El-Minia, 2006, tributed Generation. International Journal of Advanced Research in
pp. 593-600. Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Vol. 3, Special
[4] F. A. Mohamed, and H. N. Koivo, Power management strategy for solv- Issue 2, April 2014.
ing power dispatch problems in microgrid for residential applications,. [15] NEPLAN smart Tools: Power System Analysis Software, available
IEEE International Energy Conference and Exhibition, pp. 746-751. online:
[5] R. J. Best, D. J. Morrow, and P. A. Crossley, Communication assisted http://www.neplan.ch/wp- content/uploads/2015/01/Electricity.pdf.
protection selectivity for reconfigurable and islanded power networks,. [16] ETAP PowerStation help manual, available online:
Proceedings of the 44th Int. Universities Power Engineering Conference, http://www.etap.com.
2009.
[6] N. Schaefer, T. Degner, A. Shustov, T. Keil and J. Jaeger, Adaptive
protection system for distribution networks with distributed energy
resources,. 10th IET Int. Conf. on Developments in Power System
Protection, 2010, pp. 1-5.
[7] K. Dang, X. He, D. Bi and C. Feng, An Adaptive Protection Method
for the Inverter Dominated Microgrid,. International Conference on
Electrical Machines and Systems, ICEMS, Aug. 2011, pp. 1-5.
[8] H. Laaksonen, D. Ishchenko, and A. Oudalov, Adaptive Protection
and Microgrid Control Design for Hailuoto Island,. in Proc IET
Conference Publications, 2012, pp. 1-4.
[9] M. Khederzadeh, Power management strategy for solving power dis-
patch problems in microgrid for residential applications,. IEEE
International Energy Conference and Exhibition, pp. 746-751.
[10] ALTERNATIVE TRANSIENTS PROGRAM ATP/EMTP
http://http://www.emtp.org.
[11] B. Hussain, S. M. Sharkh and S. Hussain, Impact studies of distributed
generation on power quality and protection setup of an existing distri-
bution network,. SPEEDAM 2010, Pisa, 2010, pp. 1243-1246.
[12] A. K. Tiwari, S. R. Mohanty and R. K. Singh, Review on protection
issues with penetration of distributed generation in distribution system,.
2014 International Electrical Engineering Congress (iEECON), Chon-
buri, 2014, pp. 1-4.
[13] A. Elhaffar, N. El-Naily, K. El-Arroudi, Management of Distribution
System Protection with High Penetration of Distributed Generations.
Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 A.N. Bilge et al.
(eds.) Energy System and Management, Springer Proceedings in Energy,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16024-5-27.