Fault location in Distribution Network with Inverter-Interfaced Distributed Energy Resources in limiting current

Abstract

The advances in power electronics and the awareness of the use of renewable energy has motivated the connection of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) into Power Distribution Networks. Additional challenges are related to the changes that the presence of DER cause on typical radial characteristics of distribution networks, which were not considered in the formulation of fault location methods. This paper presents a proposal for fault location for power distribution networks in presence of Inverter-Interfaced DER when these working in limiting current. The proposal uses a fault model of the inverter to consider its impact on the fault location. Thus, is assumed that the inverter always operates in limiting current mode when a fault event occurs. It allows estimate its current contribution to the fault point. A case study in the IEEE 34 Node Test Feeder is performed. This system is modeled on ATP/EMTP and modified with the insertion of an Inverter-Interfaced DER. The method is validated by consideration of two scenarios. Scenario 1 - DER penetration level effect and scenario 2 - Fault resistance on the proposed method effect. The results obtained presented a maximum error of 0.3%.