Electrical power systems fault location with one-terminal data using estimated remote source impedance

In this study, a fault location algorithm for electrical power systems is presented. The proposal consists in an accurate impedance-based fault location algorithm by utilizing voltage and current measurements from local terminal and estimated remote source impedance. In order to evaluate the fault location algorithm a numerical analysis is made. Phase-to-ground faults are simulated in a 230 kV Brazilian transmission line using the software ATP/EMTP and MATLAB. The algorithm is tested considering the fault distance, fault resistance, and the variation of short-circuit capacity of remote system effects. The results show that the fault resistance and fault distance affect the estimated fault distance, but with minor errors. More, the proposed algorithm is not sensitive to the remote system short-circuit capacity variation.