Distribution Grid

The distribution grid brings power directly to consumers and is operated by a large number of
regional and municipal operators (883 DSOs, source BNetzA 2016).

 The German transmission grid comprises the portions at extra-high voltage, 220–380 kV,
and at high voltage, 110 kV, with about 350 substations.
 The distribution grids at medium voltage (MV), 1–50 kV, and low voltage (LV), 0.4 kV,
include about 600.000 MV/LV substations.

Around 80 percent of the distribution grid runs below ground.

Electricity customers only have to expect power interruptions of 12 minutes on average during
the year.

The medium and low-voltage distribution networks are changing into a multidirectional dynamic
network. Monitoring and control of this system are a prerequisite for keeping the network
efficiently balanced, working in cooperation with network users. It is important to take account
of the fact that every distribution network must be individually assessed in terms of its network
structure (e.g. consumers and generators connected to it) and public infrastructures (e.g. load
and population density).
In the past, distribution networks were operated in a single direction to distribute electricity from
the higher voltage level, with the network structure designed for this specific task.
Through to today, only very few distribution networks proceed with detailed visualization and
analysis of the network situation together with real automation. Furthermore, only limited use is
made of the efficiency of control and regulation possibilities
This must be changed if the energy transition is to be managed. Transmission and distribution
networks must respond even faster and more frequently to changes in generation and load-flow
directions, particularly through the feed-in of increasing amounts of energy from wind power and
photovoltaic.
Improvements has already begun…

Northern Germany:

The development in Northern Germany shows that the future has already begun in certain
networks. Here, network operators already issue warnings about overloading of energy networks
due to the rapid development of renewable energies in rural and windy regions. In and around
Lower Saxony today, the installed renewables-based feed-in capacity exceeds the annual
maximum load by almost 70 percent.

Already 50 percent of the total electricity volume transported by certain network operators
originates from renewable energy sources.

Southern Germany:

Bavaria has seen a considerable increase in the number of photovoltaic plants over the last two
years.

More than 350,000 photovoltaic plants with a capacity of more than 7,000 MW are currently
connected to the network. This figure not only exceeds the Bavarian demand during low-load
hours but it also corresponds to about 35 percent of the PV capacity installed throughout the
country.
Protection and Relays Used In Main Circuit Board at a Power Grid
Substation
1. Directional inverse time overcurrent and earth fault relays

This type of relays are applied for directional or earth fault protection of ring mains, parallel
transformers or parallel feeders with the time graded principle. It is induction disc type relay with
induction cup used to add directional feature.

2. Instantaneous voltage relay

The type of relay is an instantaneous protection against abnormal voltage conditions such as over
voltage, under voltage or no voltage in AC and DC circuits and for definite time operation when
used with a timer. It is an attracted armature type relay.

3. Trip circuit supervision relay

This relay is applied for after closing or continuous supervision of the trip circuit of circuit
breakers.

They detect the following conditions:

1. Failure of trip relay

2. Open circuit of trip coil
3. Failure of mechanism to complete the tripping operation

4. Instantaneous over current and earth fault relay

An instantaneous phase or earth fault protection and for definite time operation when used with a
timer. It is a CAG 12/12G standard attracted armature relay with adjustable settings. It may be a
single pole or triple pole relay.

5. Auto reclose

Five types of auto reclose relays are available:

a) VAR21 giving one reclosure. The dead time and reclaim time are adjustable form 5 to 25 secs.
If the circuit breaker reopens during reclaim time, it remains open and locked out.

b) VAR41B is a single shot scheme for air blast circuit breakers. Reclaim time is fixed at
between 15 to 20 secs. Dead time adjustment is from 0.1 to 1.0 sec of which first 300 millisec
will be circuit breaker opening time.
c) VAR 42 giving four reclosure. It is precision timed from 0 to 60 sec. it can be set for max four
enclosures at min intervals of 10 sec and instantaneous protection can be suppressed after the
first reclosure so that persistent faults are referred to time graded protection.

d) VAR 71 giving single shot medium speed reclosure with alarm and lockout for circuit breaker.
This allows up to 10 faults clearance before initiating an alarm. The alarm is followed by lockout
if selected no. of faults clearances exceed. If the circuit breaker reopens during reclaim time, it
remains open and locked out. It offers delay in reclosing sequence. Instantaneous lockout on low
current earth fault and suppressing instantaneous protection during reclamation time.

e) Var81 is a single shot high-speed reclosure with alarm and lockout for circuit breaker This
allows up to 10 faults clearance before initiating an alarm.

6. Distance protection
Some utilities install distance relays (ANSI 21) for line protection. The distance relay compares
the fault current against the voltage at the relay location to calculate the impedance from the
relay to the faulty point. As a rule of thumb distance relay has three protection zones: zone 1
covers 80-85% length of the protected line, zone 2 covers 100% length of the protected line plus
50% next line, zone 3 covers 100% length of the protected line plus 100% second line, plus 25%
third line. If a fault
occurs in the operating zone of the distance relay, the measured impedance is less than the
setting and the distance relay operates to trip the circuit breaker. Unfortunately, the distance
protection can be affected by DERs and loads since the measured impedance of the distance
relay is a function of in-feed currents and might cause the relay to operate incorrectly.
7. Differential protection
Differential over-current protection relays (ANSI 87) are mainly used to protect an important
piece of equipment such as distributed generators and transformers. Today, differential
protection is also widely used to protect underground distribution lines using a communication
(pilot wires, fibre optics, radio or microwave, etc.) between line terminals. It has the highest
selectivity and only operates in the case of an internal fault but it requires a reliable
communication for instantaneous data transfer between terminals of the protected element (pilot
wire, optical fibres, or free space via radio or microwave). Because of a vulnerability to possible
communication failures, differential protection requires a separate back-up protection scheme. It
increases a total cost of protection system and limits its application in microgrids.
Although several protection principles can be used in low voltage distribution grid, over-current
protection dominates this segment. Therefore, we focus on issues related to over-current
protection in microgrids.
 Distribution grid operation and protection having
distributed generation

Problems in Distribution Grid having DG

The problems described in the above section mainly occur in distribution grids including DG
equipped with a synchronous machine such as CHP-plants. Based on the problem definition
given above the following research objectives and questions have been selected:

Objective 1
Investigate what effect DG has on the protective system of distribution grids and when
protection problems are to be expected
To this objective the following research question is posed:
i. What type of protection problems are to be expected in distribution grids including
DG
Objective 2
Investigate what the fault ride-through behavior of DG-units is and how it interferes with the
current grid protection.
The research questions related to this objective are:

i. What is the impact of keeping DG connected to the distribution grid during and after
a grid disturbance
ii. Can DG stay connected to a distribution grid protected by a traditional protective
system without loosing stability during and after a grid disturbance
Objective 3
Investigate how the grid or generator protective system has to be modified to minimize the
disconnection of DG during and after disturbances and guarantee stability of the connected DG
For the last objective the following research questions are defined:
i. What types of fault in the transmission grid result in the disconnection of DG
connected to the distribution grid
ii. What are the minimum fault ride-through criteria needed to prevent disconnection
of DG during transmission grid faults
Grid structure:
Generally three grid structures can be distinguished:
1. Radial grid structure
a. Simplest structure
b. Each substation or customer is coupled via a single line or cable to a central point
of supply.
c. The service interruption time covers the complete repair time of the line or cable
2. Loop grid structure
a. All substations or customers are connected via two lines or cables
b. During a disturbance the faulted line section is isolated and the loop is split-up
into two parts.
c. Service interruption time is the time needed for fault localization and the
necessary switching actions

3. Meshed grid structure

a. The benefits of meshed grid structure are a reduction in the grid losses and an
improvement of the voltage profile along the feeders.
Distributed Generation:
An electric power source connected directly to the distribution network or to the customer side of
the meter. And DG can be further classified to the principles of operation and the interface
between the distribution grid and the DG-unit.
This classification can be used to make a rough distinction between DG with a contribution to a
fault current and DG which hardly contributes to a fault current. It is stated that inverter
connected DG hardly contributes to a fault current.

Effect of DG on distribution grid operation

The distribution grid will evolve towards a smart grid. Smart grid technology has not reached
a mature state yet and this will take a significant amount of time. Meanwhile, DG is connected to
the existing distribution grid which is still operated in a more or less passive way. Connection of
DG to distribution feeders has impact on the operation of the distribution grid. Problems which
can appear and which will be briefly discussed here:
1. Impact on voltage control
a. In distribution grids with cables, the X/R ratio is less than 1.
b. Voltage drop depends both on active and reactive power. Voltage
drop dominantly depends on active power. The voltage profile is not violated
when the injected power by DG is less or near the load of the feeder and the
power factor of the DG is in line with the power factor of the load. In this case the
energy supplied by the grid is decreasing as well as the current through the feeder.
This results in a reduced voltage drop.
c. When the generated power exceeds the load of the feeder or the power factor is
extreme, voltage rise occurs. This voltage rise is due the reversed power flow and
is a function of the size of DG, the power factor and the impedance of the grid.
The effect of reversed power flow is getting worse when DG injects reactive
power as well.
2. Impact on grid losses
a. Connecting DG to a load at a distribution feeder, the injected power of the DG
will be consumed by the load and the power flow in the feeder is reduced. In this
case the losses are reduced as well.
b. Intermittent generation sources with a weak correlation with the load, such as
wind turbines, can have a negative impact on grid losses. Especially during night-
time there is low demand and in a high wind situation the distribution
grid can start to export power which increases the grid losses.
c. In this case local storage systems can have a positive effect on the grid losses
because the storage system can locally balance the power flow and prevents the
export of power.
d. Wind turbines connected sufficiently close to the load have a positive effect on
grid losses.
3. Impact on power quality
a. Dips and steady-state voltage rise
b. Voltage flicker
c. Harmonics
 4. Impact on grid protection and fault level
a. Inverter coupled DG hardly contribute to the fault current while directly
connected DG do contribute to the fault current.
b. A significant contribution to the fault current of the DG-unit affects the protective
systems in the distribution grid.
c. Fault currents are affected by the DG-units, the measured currents used for
protection purposes, are affected as well. This can lead to incorrect operation of
the protective system and causes fault detection problems and selectivity
problems

Effect of DG on distribution grid protection

These developments lead to dense distribution grids with a significant number of small
generators. For such distribution grids three issues have been considered:
1. The effect of DG on distribution grid protection
a. Fault detection problems (blinding of protection)
i. Due to the contribution of the DG to the total fault current the grid
contribution decreases. When the grid contribution stays under the pickup
current of the protection the fault stays undetected which can cause
delayed or no fault clearing at all.
b. Selectivity problems
i. False tripping is a protection problem which belongs to the category of
selectivity problems and occurs when a healthy feeder is switched off due
to the contribution of the DG to a fault at an adjacent feeder.

2. The effect of fault ride-through criteria on the dynamic behavior of the distribution
system
a. Problem -- immediate disconnection of DG-units restore the distribution grid to a
grid with only one source of supply can cause of load and generation mismatch
b. For voltage dips with a certain duration the DG have to stay connected to the grid.
Depending on the size of the DG-unit the fault ride-through criteria can also
oblige additional grid support, such as voltage and frequency support, during and
after a disturbance. Keeping DG during a local disturbance connected to the grid
can cause interference with the local protective system.

3. The effect of grid protection and fault ride-through criteria on the stability of the
distribution generation
Both problems can manifest themselves for either temporary or permanent faults.
Distribution grids having large number of DGs can lead to a disconnection of a significant part of
these units due to disturbances in the transmission, sub-transmission and distribution grids. And
the traditional distribution grid protection is too slow to prevent disconnection of the DG.
The stability limits of the DGs are exceeded when they are kept connected during and after a
disturbance in the distribution grid.
As a solution, the distribution grid operation can be changed from radial operation to loop
operation. It is demonstrated that it is possible by this to clear the fault without disconnection of
the DGs or violation of the stability margins.
Distribution grid faults cause deep dips for which the stability margin of the DGs is small and
fast fault clearing is a necessary condition to prevent disconnection and instable operation of the
DG.
Disconnection of all DG due to a disturbance leads to a large change of active power flow
although the accompanying steady-state voltage deviation is limited. This voltage deviation can
easily be corrected with the tap changer of the transformers. Keeping the DG connected after a
disturbance results in a large active power swing which is also noticeable in the sub-transmission
and distribution grid voltage.
Another consequence of keeping the DG connected to the grid is the delayed voltage recovery
due to the reactive power consumption of the generator for a small period of time after the fault
is cleared. This delayed voltage recovery leads to a violation of the fault ride-through criteria and
a disconnection of the DG although, even when the voltage dip is survived.
For the improvement of the voltage recovery, integrate a STATCOM as a source of reactive
power in the local distribution grid.
i. STATCOM has a positive effect on the voltage recovery and as a result of this improved
voltage recovery the disconnection of the DG is prevented.
ii. STATCOM also limits the maximum amplitude of the rotor angle swing which for the
DG results in reaching the steady state faster.
Protective systems
The main objective of a protective system is to detect an abnormal system condition as quickly
as possible and take an appropriate action to bring the system back in the normal system
condition. The protective system is per definition a reacting system and is equipped with
reactionary devices.

The time required to take the corrective action is called the clearing time and can be defined as:
Tc = Tp + Td + Ta (3.1)
Tc: Clearing time
Tp: Comparison time
Td: Decision time
Ta: Action time, including the time necessary to open the circuit breaker
The clearing time of the protection device is an important quantity because other protection
devices in the protective system have to be time-coordinated with this protection device in order
to disconnect the faulted section of the network only.

Definitions used in grid protection

Reliability of a protective system: The ability of the protective system to operate correctly.
Security of a protective system: The ability of a system or device to refrain from unnecessary
operation.
Sensitivity of a protective system: The ability of the system to identify an abnormal operating
condition that exceeds a certain threshold value.
Selectivity of a protective system: The ability of maintaining continuity of supply by disconnecting
the minimum section of the network necessary to isolate the fault.
Protection devices:
In the protective system the protection devices are often classified in accordance with their
construction, the incoming signal and function. For a regular protection device often the term
relay is used.
Overcurrent protection:
The simplest class of protection relays is the class of overcurrent relays. This class of protection
relays is widely used in distribution grid protection. To operate this relay only the current has to
be measured. When the current exceeds a certain threshold a trip signal is generated and send to
the circuit breaker. Roughly, the overcurrent relays can be classified into two groups:
1. Definite-time overcurrent relays
2. Inverse-time overcurrent relays

Directional protection
In radial distribution grids normally there is only one source of supply and application of
overcurrent relays as protection devices are prevalent. However, selective protection with
overcurrent relays of distribution grids with a ring or meshed grid structure is almost impossible.
In these grid structures disturbances can lead to fault currents which can flow in both directions
through a power system component and causes unnecessary disconnection of circuits. To provide
proper protection of these grid structures and cope with bi-directional fault currents a directional
element has to be added to the overcurrent relay.
Reclosers
Another class of overcurrent protection devices, especially applied in distribution grids
consisting overhead lines, is the automatic recloser or simply a recloser. In these grids 80% of
the faults are temporarily and permanent switching off of the distribution feeder is not necessary.
To limit the interruption time in case of a fault the recloser switches off the faulted section of the
feeder and allows the arc to deionize. After a brief time delay the recloser energizes the line
again. When the arc is extinguished and the fault is removed the feeder can stay in service. For
permanent faults this procedure is repeated several times and finally the recloser will lock out
and the permanent fault is cleared by switching off the faulted feeder part.

Differential protection
Differential protection is based on a comparison of, at least, two current quantities which are
measured on either side of the protected element. In normal operation of the protected element
these currents should be equal. The differential protection trips when:

In above equation Im is the mth current quantity and n is the total number of branches
incorporated in the differential protection.
Distance protection
A protection device which makes use of the linear relation between U and I is the distance
protection. The relation between U and I , which is better known as Ohm’s law, is:

In distance protection the impedance of the protected grid section is used as a threshold. This is
an attractive quantity because the impedance is linear with the line-length and independent of the
loading situations. The distance protection measures the fault current and the busbar voltage and
determines the impedance. This is the impedance to the fault location. The measured impedance
is compared with the threshold impedance and when Zmeas < Zm a trip signal is generated.

Protection of a European distribution grid structure

Typical European distribution grid structure is shown in below figure. The distribution grid is a
loop structure including a grid opening. Normally the grid opening is in function and the two
feeders are operated radially. Most feeders are protected with an overcurrent relay located in the
main substation and a disturbance leads to a disconnection of the complete feeder
In case of a fault at the indicated location relay Rel 1 and Rel 2 pick up the fault current and, if
the relay settings are selective, the relay closest to the fault clears the fault. In figure, the time
settings of the relays for the top-feeder are shown.

To clarify the settings and grading of the protection devices in a loop structure, in figure 3.15 this
structure is represented as a generic radial feeder including two sources and q sections. Because
of the directional sensitivity of the protection devices source 1 and source 2 can be considered as
decoupled. Hence for determining the time grading for the subsequent relays Reln and Reln+1
source 1 has to be used and for setting the relays Relm and Relm+1 Source 2 has to be used.
Because of this decoupling the relays of both directions are set independently and can be treated
as an ordinary radial feeder protection.
Integration of Distributed Energy Resources: The Sample Case of
Photovoltaic Systems

The integration and management of distributed energy resources (DERs) is one of the most
significant challenges of future grids. In this context, the microgrid concept may facilitate the
integration by coordinating the automation of a sub-section of the grid. At present, most of the
DERs are not involved in the automation process, hence they do not increase local efficiency and
they are not involved in the reactive power management, so they do not support network
stability.

 Strategies for advanced control can be divided into three categories

o Active power control – prevent overload of the lines and maintain stable grid
o Reactive power control – maintain stable grid
o Low voltage ride through (LVRT) – prevent immediate grid failure following grid
instability
 Active and reactive control strategies can be:
o Permanent or dynamic
o Local or remote

Active Power Control:

 Target: avoid overproduction, prevent of the lines and maintain stable grid
 Six methods for limiting the active power of an installation:
1. Reduction of active depending on the grid frequency
 2. Inverter output limitation:
a. On demand remote or constant (local)
3. Gradual power decrease when DC power drops
4. Gradual power increase after inverter fault or reset
5. Phase balancing
6. Limited grid frequency range for inverter wakeup
 One are all methods can employed simultaneously

Reactive Power Control:

 cosφ(P) characteristic (Changes with P, according to pre-defined graph)
 fixed cosφ method (Locally set and Remotely controlled)
 fixed Q method
 Q(U) droop function (Q changes with grid voltage, according to pre-defined graph)

Low voltage ride through (LVRT):

 Inverter must stay connected during grid failure ofr a defined period of time (depending
on voltage)
o If voltage is back above limit - normal operation
o Otherwise - inverter disconnection

During normal grid operation, the active power flows from sources to loads (grid node S[L). The
magnitude and direction of reactive power flow can be influenced by reactive power injection via
PV inverters. Due to this reactive power control the voltage magnitude at the Point of Common
Coupling (PCC) ‘‘L’’ can be actively influenced.
A voltage violation larger than the acceptable limit can be compensated for by setting the PV
inverter to an ‘‘inductive angle’’ equal to uPV = arctan (QPV/PPV), which implies shifting the
operating point along the characteristic. This control method requires the ability of the PV
inverter to control reactive power injection, which is not currently a common feature.
Furthermore, the presence of multiple PV systems connected to the same PCC requires
coordination, which may be better realized in a distributed manner and result in low voltage
being regulated.