Forecast-based overcurrent relay coordination in wind farms

Abstract

Relay coordination ensures the appropriate isolation of healthy feeders from the faulty areas in a power system. The dynamic nature of renewable sources such as wind generators (WGs) can create variations in fault levels which affect the relay settings. This causes coordination problems, which can lead to the faulty operation of overcurrent relays (OCRs). The settings of the relay need to be modified appropriately in line with the variations of fault levels, which in turn change with the wind dynamics. As a solution, wind forecast based technique for the coordination of the OCRs in wind-integrated substations is suggested in this work. In the proposed algorithm, wind speed and its direction are predicted and the settings of the relay are predetermined using an optimization technique. This reduces the computation time required for the algorithms in the current period. The algorithm is implemented in the modified IEEE 9-bus system with wind farms and also in a typical wind-integrated substation. Further, it is validated through an experimental setup in the laboratory. The results were found to be promising and the algorithm can be applied to any substations integrated with wind farms for avoiding relay mal-operations.