A protection coordination scheme for smart grid based distribution systems using wavelet based fault location and communication support

It is mandatory to have a trustable protection scheme in each distribution system. A protection scheme is able of decreasing the impact on the energy interruption time during a disturbance situation. In order to enhance power system reliability and performance, we propose a protection coordination scheme involving direct and indirect communication between the protection devices towards a Smart Grid based power network. We also consider a fault location system based on Wavelet Transform in order to decrease the restoration time, providing the required intelligence to the protection system to automatically operate. Further, we present a case study based on the CELG D S.A. automation distribution site simulated in PSCAD/EMTDCTM software where we apply our protection approach. The simulation results show the influence of the communication technologies in the system in terms of the required latency as well as the benefits of the proposed protection scheme.