Overcurrent Protection Issues in Distributed Generation based Microgrid System

Abstract

The Distributed Generations (DGs) based Microgrid system has revolutionised the power sector in recent times. Earlier, the power generation was centralised and the transmission of power to remote areas was very limited, as the installation of towers in the rough terrains was very difficult and also these power lines and towers were prone to natural hazards like landslides, falling of trees, floods and so on. The exploitation of renewable energy resources and the advancement in technology has led to the decentralisation in power generation. New distributed generating plants like Solar power plants, micro hydro power plants, wind power plants and so on, has tremendously lowered the burden on Main power utilities in terms of power availability and reliability. Nowadays, Due to the integration of Distributed Power Generations with the power utilities, power supply has become more reliable, efficient and economical for the consumers. Power outages have reduced and also energy generated is eco-friendly i.e, clean and green energy is produced cutting off the carbon emission. In spite of many advantages of a microgrid system, there are technical issues that need to be addressed for the proper operation of a Microgrid system Out of all these, one of the major issue is the protection of the microgrid system. During fault, it is found that the Conventional over-current protection system is inefficient for the protection of the Microgrid System. The overcurrent relays fail to operate properly for the microgrid system. In this paper, different types of overcurrent Protection issues of a microgrid system is discussed and also, some of the issues are analysed through fault simulation in the designed Microgrid system in Matlab Simulink.