The optimal performance of protection relays is critical to the safe, reliable and stable operation of modern power systems. When a disturbance occurs on a power system the protection systems should act in concert to quickly isolate the faulted equipment, while minimizing customer outages and impact on power quality. This project focuses on the development of new methods for protecting the modern distribution grid and to take advantage of the new capabilities made available through grid modernization. Distribution protection engineers will use the methods and protocols developed through this project to evaluate distribution protection schemes and philosophies, including the impacts of DER and increased electrification.
Key Research Areas
Automated Protection Analysis
Tool to automatically perform protection studies, identify credible protection issues, propose changes to fusing or recloser settings to mitigate issues
Guidance for Mitigation Impacts of DER on System Protection
Guidance for modeling DER and load in protection studies as well as guidance to mitigate impacts. Roadmap for protection utilities to protect the grid of the future
Microgrid Protection
Guidelines for safe and cost-effective microgrid protection design
Evolve Protection Design Practices
What new or evolving protection technologies are available today or becoming available in the future? Which problems can they solve? Are they effective and deployable?
Automated Event Analysis
Operator and protection decision support tools to automatically perform event visualization, root-cause analysis, fault location estimation, and event record analysis
Protection Data Management
What methods and tools exist to enable protection configuration data to be stored and managed and how can utilities plan and deploy such systems
Research Value
The research approach includes grid modeling; protection coordination, transient stability, and electromagnetic transient studies; industry surveys; sharing utility experience; lab-testing protection devices, sensors and technologies. Application of the results enables:
- Clear understanding of how to model DER for protection studies to identify protection impacts and solutions
- Tools for automatically assessing protection coordination and sensitivity across large grid areas and monitoring over time to identify when potential misoperation might arise
- Enable strategic protection planning for safe and reliable grids of the future
- Reduce engineering effort for design and configuring protection systems for microgrids
- Improve operator situational awareness of protection operation and fault location
- Enables and simplifies protection coordination reviews and effective management of protection data
Task Force
This task force consists of utility subject-matter experts in areas related to distribution protection engineers and operations support engineers/operational planning. It is a good opportunity to network with your peers at other utilities, understand how to apply the latest findings, and advise the EPRI research throughout the year.
This task force meets roughly every month via webex. That latest calendar can be found here. Members are encouraged to participate in several ways:
- Attend task-force meetings and provide input on projects
- Provide data on your utility’s system
- Provide information on your utility’s methods, tools, and practices (a survey for example)
- Review and comment on reports and findings
If you have questions about the task force, contact Lindsey Rogers
Related Research
Supplemental Projects
Application Opportunities
- Grid Modernization Strategic Roadmapping
- Protection Technology and Logic Testing
For more on supplemental project opportunities, click here. To discuss project ideas, contact Lindsey Rogers