Single-Phase to Ground Fault Line Identification for Medium Voltage Islanded Microgrids With Neutral Ineffectively Grounded Modes

Abstract

Considering single-phase to ground (SPG) faults accounting for more than 80% of all faults, neutral ineffectively grounded mode (NIGM) is the most promising choice for medium voltage (MV) islanded microgrids (MGs) to enhance operation reliability. But due to the weak fault current and flexible network topology of islanded MGs, it is difficult to detect SPG fault lines. To solve this issue, this paper firstly analyzes the SPG fault characteristics of the MV islanded MGs with different NIGMs and network topologies. It is found that the looped MGs have a virtual terminal, i.e., the point where zero-sequence current (ZSC) is zero. And the feature differences between fault and non-fault lines are revealed. Based on that, an SPG fault line identification method is proposed. The main criterion is constructed based on the skewness signs of high frequency zero-sequence voltage (ZSV) and ZSC. Additionally, the fundamental amplitude of the difference between the actual ZSC received from another terminal and the ZSC calculated from local ZSV and ZSC is used to formulate an auxiliary criterion. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in a 10kV islanded MG model considering different NIGMs, different fault conditions, arc grounding faults, and the influences of the line parameter, operating point and measurement noises.