Optimum location of superconducting fault current limiter to mitigate DG impact

Abstract

The penetration of Distributed Generation (DG) changes the fault current level and direction. This leads to violate the relay coordination in the power system network. Superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) are commonly used to minimize the fault current level to restore original relay coordination. This paper presents the optimum location of the SFCL to limit the fault current level with minimum size and cost of SFCL. The restoration of protection coordination is carried out without changing the original relay settings or disconnecting DG from power system network during fault conditions. In this work, a resistive type SFCL is presented to minimize the fault current level. A typical power system model including generation, transmission and distribution network with DG is presented to determine the optimum location and the performance of the SFCL. Three phase faults are simulated at different locations in the power system and the effect of DG of fault current is evaluated. Accordingly, the optimum arrangement of the SFCL location in power system with DG has been proposed.