FAULT CURRENT MANAGEMENT UNDER HIGH PENETRATION OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION IN SMART GRIDS

Abstract

This paper introduces a new technique for mitigating the impact of Distributed Generation (DG) on fault current in radial distribution systems. The proposed approach employs the power electronics interface to control the DG fault current contribution. For this purpose, the power converter control DG current phase angle to achieve a reduction in total fault current magnitude. The appropriate control of DG current phase angle can limit the total fault current magnitude to the original value without DG; hence effectively mitigate the impact of adding DG. The evaluation of the proposed technique illustrates the validity of the proposed method for the management of the fault current magnitude.