A Review on Protection Challenges of Transmission Lines Connected to Inverter-Based Resources

Conference · Mon Aug 26 04:00:00 EDT 2024

OSTI ID:2560757

Zamani, Mohammad ^[1]; Zadeh, Mohammad ^[2]; Saeed, Ajmal ^[3]; Jensen, Mike ^[3]

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1. Quanta Technology; Pacific Gas and Electric
2. ETAP
3. Pacific Gas and Electric

The increased penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) connected to transmission grids is challenging how traditional electric power systems operate. Such systems were originally designed based on the dominant presence of synchronous generators. Some main challenges include the increased concerns about system stability due to the reduced system inertia caused by IBRs and the reduced protection reliability caused by the non-deterministic fault current response of IBRs. The protection relays’ algorithms have been designed and validated based on well-known fault current characteristics of synchronous generations, while the short-circuit responses of IBRs heavily depend on their vendor-specific control schemes, which are mainly set to protect inverter semiconductor switches and DC components. The magnitude of short current that IBRs contribute is typically between 1.1–1.5 times the rated current that may behave unstably and incoherently with the voltages. The control scheme of the IBRs also controls the active (P) and reactive (Q) support during system voltage sag and swell conditions. These characteristics challenge not only protective relay schemes but also existing short-circuit software tools to correctly model IBRs for fault studies and protection coordination analyses

• Research Organization: Pacific Gas and Electric
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0010658
• OSTI ID: 2560757
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
Renewables
IBR
Protection Challenges
Inverter-Based Resources