Synchrophasor-Based Wide-Area Backup Protection Scheme with Data Requirement Analysis

This paper presents a fast and robust wide-area backup protection scheme to detect the faulty condition and to identify the faulted line in a large power network. The proposed methodology uses positive-sequence synchrophasor data captured by either digital relays with synchronization capability or phasor measurement units dispersed over the network. The basic idea behind the new protection scheme is the comparison of bus voltage values calculated through dissimilar paths. Upon occurrence of a fault, the faulty condition is first detected and the bus(es) connected to the faulted line is(are) determined. Among transmission lines connected to the suspected bus(es), the faulted one is thereafter identified. In addition to two-terminal transmission lines, multiterminal lines are also incorporated. The performance of the proposed method is validated on the IEEE 57-bus test system in different fault conditions (fault type, fault location, and fault resistance). Discrimination of faulty and normal conditions is simulated by examining various stressed conditions, for example, load encroachment, generator outage, and power swing. The data requirement of the proposed technique is analyzed as well. To do so, a mathematical model for the optimal placement of measurement devices is developed and applied to different IEEE standard test systems.