A communication-assisted protection for MVDC distribution systems with distributed generation

In this paper, a communication-assisted protection scheme is proposed for medium voltage dc (MVDC) distribution networks. MVDC grids are applicable for connection between microgrids, upgrading the transmission capacity of ac lines by the conversion to dc, and integration of renewable energy systems to the distribution grids. However, protection issues are one of the main challenges in the development of the VSC-based dc networks. Due to the special behavior of the dc fault currents, it is almost impossible to coordinate the overcurrent relays based on the time inverse grading. Hence, in the proposed scheme, to provide a fast and selective protection, each proposed relay communicates with two other relays to operate as the main protection for a dc feeder and the backup protection of the adjacent feeder. Hardware in the loop simulation approach by use of the OPAL-RT real time simulator is used to verify the performance of the proposed method.