Impact of Distributed Generation on Network

Short Circuit Level

Muhammad Aslam UQAILI1, Anwar Ali SAHITO1, Irfan Ahmed HALEPOTO2,
Zubair Ahmed MEMON1, Sada Bakhash DARS3
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mehran University of
Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan
anwar.sahito@faculty.muet.edu.pk
2
Department of Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mehran University of
Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan
3
Post graduate student, Institute of Information & Communication Technologies, Mehran University of Engineering &
Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract—Distributed generation (DG) technology is spreading DG can be considered as fast solution to increase power
rapidly owing to advantages of clean environment, loss reduction generation because of short construction times [4,7]. As DGs
and voltage improvement. Utilities in Pakistan are welcoming all are connected to distribution system therefore there will be no
generations to increase their supply capacity. Industries are need for enhancement in transmission network. In addition to
installing DGs to meet their load requirements. In order to that DG will not contribute much to energy losses. But DG will
reduce energy bills, DGs are being used to supply spare power cause some protection problem such as safety, islanding and
back to utility or even in off peak durations. DG interconnection increased short circuit currents [7,9].
changes electrical network characteristics of existing utility
Due to various advantages offered by DG, extensive
network. Protection problems may occur in the form of relay
settings, islanding and increased short circuit currents. This research around the world is being carried out to maximize its
paper investigates the effects of DG interconnection on short benefits and avoid any undesired situation. Duloo et.al (2014)
circuit currents. A feeder of SITE industrial area of Karachi is highlighted different impacts of DG on distribution system
modeled and simulated for short circuit analysis. Analysis shows including operation and control, change in short circuit
that DG interconnection to a radial feeder increases short circuit capacity, stability and relay performance. They used IEEE 30
level at all nodes of the feeder. bus test system for analysis and concluded that DG reduce
Keywords— Distributed generation; Short circuit current; losses but may add to short circuit currents depending on the
Simulation; PSS SINCAL; size and location of DG and system to which it is connected
[1]. Gomez et. al (2013) investigated change in fault current for
I. INTRODUCTION
model power system. They concluded that relay settings need
Distributed generation (DG) is generation directly to be changed after DG is interconnected. They also suggested
connected to distribution system [1-5]. Conventionally, power to carry out protection analysis for the system before DG
system uses large fossil fuel or hydroelectric generating plants. interconnection [11]. Deng et. al. (2012) analyzed protection
These plants are located at the suitable places normally away aspects of portion of feeder with DG interconnection and
from load centers. Generated power is transmitted over long suggested to incorporate reverse power protection. They also
distances using transmission lines. Extra high voltage is used concluded that DG interconnection will change the flow of
for transmission system to reduce line losses and conductor fault currents and therefore relay settings must be analyzed
size. Transmitted power is distributed in service areas by before DG interconnection through simulation [5].
distribution system. Considerable power is lost in network Zayandehroodi et. al. (2011) analyzed a four bus example
components from generation to utilization [3-8]. system for fault current changes with DG interconnection.
Electricity sector in Pakistan is facing huge energy crises. They concluded that relays may detect less or more current
Demand and supply gap is increasing day by day resulting in depending on the size and location of DG [8].
more than ten hours in a day. Insufficient generation, DG may increase protection problems including increase in
erroneously estimated demand modeling and load forecasting short circuit level. Change in short circuit currents depends on
and high transmission and distribution (T&D) losses are major network configuration, size and location of DG. This paper
contributor to the scenario[13]. Transmission network is being focuses on short circuit current contribution of DG. Power
operated at full capacity and even if generation is added to the System Simulation Siemens Network Calculation (PSS
system, the scenario will not change much. Various plans for SINCAL) software is used to simulate a real 11kV distribution
generation and transmission network capacity enhancement are feeder in SITE Industrial area of Karachi to analyze the effects
under development process but will take some time to integrate of DG on short circuit level.
in system
 II. DISTRIBUTED GENERATION Circuit breakers have to carry the short circuit current for
Small scale generation up to 50MW connected directly to few cycles till circuit is disconnected. Circuit is to be
distribution system is called distributed generation or interrupted during that short circuit current therefore a circuit
embedded generation. DG normally use renewable energy breaker must be capable of breaking contacts while carrying
sources such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaic cells, fuel that short circuit. Breaking capacity of circuit breaker is
cells, micro hydro and reciprocating engines. typically mentioned in MVA and is the product of maximum
Major benefit of renewable energy as DG is less symmetrical fault current and system voltage. It is also called
environmental pollution, which ultimately makes it possible to short circuit MVA (MVASC).
install a DG near or even within a city [5]. Fossil fuel
ξ3*VL*If
generating plants emit greenhouse gases and nuclear power MVASC = (1)
106
plants have great concern of hazardous nuclear waste. In
addition to that oil prices are increasing rapidly making it Busbar capacity is also dependent on short circuit level.
difficult to keep electricity prices within acceptable limits. This In a conventional radial distribution feeder, short circuit level
ultimately results in excessive burden on country’s economy decreases as we go from source (substation) along the feeder.
and valuable reserves are used to import oil. When DG is interconnected to existing system, the situation no
Current flowing through transmission and distribution longer remains same.
conductors, cables and transformers cause I2R power losses. Fig. 1 shows one line diagram for a simple power system
DG interconnection results in reduced current flow through comprising of a generator, transformer and feeder. A DG is
existing transmission and distribution network and hence also shown connected to bus B.
power losses are reduced. In addition to that DG installed near Following assumptions will make calculations simple without
load centers will result in reduced voltage drops and thus less affecting accuracy for the calculations of short circuit level.
voltage regulation equipment will be required [4,9]. • Generators are operating at rated voltage
Like all the developed countries, DGs are making their way
• Transformers are operating at nominal tapping
in Pakistan. Utility owned DGs are installed at different
• Shunt capacitance and series resistance are neglected
industrial areas of the cities to provide efficient and reliable
supply to industrial consumers. In addition to these, consumers
are also encouraged to install DG not only to meet their load
demands but also to reduce their electricity bills by selling that
electricity to utility. Number of small capacity DGs are
connected to distribution network.
Industrial consumers, large residential and commercial
buildings, newly planned areas and utilities are installing DGs
in all parts of the country. This will help to cope with the ever
increasing energy demand. PV cells are most used DG
technology in Pakistan and wind mills are just behind it. Fuel
cells is another great option for DGs in Pakistan and can be
used efficiently. In addition to these micro hydro turbines can Fig. 1. One line diagram
be installed in canals and tubewells so that sufficient energy
can be generated with almost zero running cost [11]. Assume that a fault occurs at far end of feeder marked as
F. For finding short circuit level base MVA and per unit
III. SHORT CIRCUIT LEVEL method are used. Per unit quantities have advantage of simple
Fault in a power system is an unwanted condition that calculations due to low value and give relative comparison of
normally involves a short circuit between any phases to ground different components [3].
or between phases. Short circuit results in very high current Select a common base of 10 MVA. Base kV will be 11kV for
flows and need to be interrupted before any considerable sections of generator and L.V side of the transformer. H.V side
damage is done to system components. Circuit breakers are of the transformer, feeder and DG will have a base kV of
used to disconnect the faulty portion from rest of the system 33kV.
[12]. Relays and associated accessories are used to detect an Per unit impedance of machines are specified on machine
abnormal condition and relays the signal to circuit breaker to rating as base values. Per unit impedance can be transferred to
open its contacts to disconnect the faulty portion. new base values using
Symmetrical faults are considered most dangerous as all
MVA kVbaseሺoldሻ
three phases are short circuited and maximum damage occurs Znew =Zold * ൬ MVAbaseሺnewሻ ൰ * ൬ ൰ (2)
to system components. These faults are analyzed on per phase baseሺoldሻ kVbaseሺnewሻ
basis. Unsymmetrical faults are abnormal conditions where all Impedance can be converted to per unit from its value in ohms
three phases lose their symmetry. Single line to ground, line to by
line and double line to ground faults are examples of MVAbase
Zp.u = Zohms * ൬ ൰ (3)
unsymmetrical faults [7,11,12]. kV2base
 All given impedances are converted to per unit on TABLE3. Short circuit capacity comparison at different buses
selected base MVA and kV values and are arranged in Table 1 Bus Without With Difference Percentage
given below. DG DG Change
TABLE 1. Calculation of per unit impedances F 40 62.5 22.5 56%
Impedance Eq. Calculation Result A 100 166.67 66.67 66.67%
Generator 10 11 B 66.67 166.67 100 150%
XG
Eq. 2 j0.10* ൬ ൰ * ൬ ൰ j0.10p.u Table 3 indicates an increase on short circuit level of all the
10 11
buses. This is a great concern for protection system design
Transformer 12 11 including circuit breaker capacity and relay settings.
XT
Eq. 2 j0.06* ൬ ൰ * ൬ ൰ j0.05p.u
10 11
IV. SIMULATION FOR SHORT CIRCUIT CAPACITY
DG 10 33
XDG
Eq. 2 j0.05* ൬ ൰ * ൬ ൰ j0.10p.u Real systems are long and complex. Hence, calculation of
5 33
short circuit level will require a lot of time. Therefore,
Feeder 10 computer programming is used to calculate short circuit level
Eq. 3 j11* ൬ 2 ൰ j0.10 p.u
XL 33 for the large systems. General programs for such calculations
Reactance diagram for the system before and after DG are written and required data input calculates the desired
interconnection are shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b). quantities.
Simulation is a graphical method of such computer
program developed for ease of utility. PSS SINCAL® is a user
friendly graphical simulation software. Built in programs for
short circuit calculation, allow user to analyze large system
with ease. Develop model of the system under study just like a
one line diagram and insert data required to simulate and
observe the results.
In this paper, we have selected an 11 kV feeder and
collected real data for analysis. The network is used to supply
electricity to industrial consumers in SITE area of Karachi. It
starts from 11kV busbar at SITE substation and supplies
mostly industrial loads. There are 27 nodes/buses excluding the
substation busbar. Seven 11/0.4kV distribution transformers
Fig. 2. Reactance diagram (a) without DG (b) with DG are energized from the feeder. Total capacity of these seven
transformers is 4750kVA. In addition to these transformers five
Calculate the impedance to the fault point using Thevenin’s industrial loads are directly supplied through 11kV. Total
theorem (Zth). Then calculate short circuit level by connected load on the feeder is 6MVA. 11 kV cables are used
MVAbase to interconnect different buses. Buses on main stream of
MVASC = (4) feeders are named N1 to N6. Bus B1 refers to substation in
Z th branch network. T1 to T7 represent high voltage terminals of
Short circuit current can then be calculated, as
distribution system and nodes L1 to L7 represent low voltage
MVASC *106 terminals. Five loads supplied directly by 11kV are represented
ISC = 3 (5)
ξ3*kVbase *10 by L01 to L05.
Table 2 shows Zth, MVASC and ISC with and without DG Network is modeled on PSS SINCAL and short circuit
interconnection. Increase in short circuit levels and percentage levels are observed for different buses. Later 3MVA
change are also given in table 2. synchronous machine DG has been interconnected to the
TABLE 2. Short circuit calculations feeder at node N11. The network with DG has been simulated
Without With Difference Percentage for short circuit analysis and is shown in Fig. 3. Short circuit
DG DG Change MVA for each node has been depicted in the simulation
Zth (p.u) 0.25 0.16 - 0.09 -36% diagram. The feeder specifications for its line length, loading
MVASC 40 62.5 22.5 56% condition and transformer positions and capacities have been
ISC (A) 700 1093.5 393.5 56% shown in the simulation platform. Results obtained for the two
Table 2 clearly shows that short circuit MVA is cases and their comparison are arranged in Table 4.
increased at fault point when DG is interconnected at point B. Short circuit level is maximum at 11kV substation busbar
Impedance to the fault is decreased and is indicated by negative and decreases on main stream from N1 to N6. This decreases
sign in difference and percentage change for impedance. on 11 kV nodes on the main stream illustrates the behavior of a
Short circuit MVA can also be calculated at different radial distribution feeder. Reason for this trend is eq.2 as
locations using the procedure explained above. Table 3 impedance of lines from source add up and increased Zth
showsthe short circuit level comparison at different buses reduces short circuit level. Similar pattern is observed for the
before and after DG interconnection. network before and after DG interconnection. Fig. 4 shows
graphical comparison of short circuit MVA A of main feeder TABLE 4: Short circcuit MVA comparison
buses (from N1 to N6) graphically. Trend iss also visible from Node MVASC Change %age
the graph. Without With DG In Change
Short circuit level at all nodes havee been increased. DG MVASC
Maximum change of 4.05% in short circuit leevel is observed at Substation 1100.00 11166.00 16.00 1.45%
node N4 which is point of DG interconneection. Percentage
increase decreases from N4 to N6 on the dow wnstream of feeder. N1 471.00 485..13 14.13 3.00%
Same is the case with upstream from N4 to suubstation. T1 466.82 480..72 13.90 2.98%
Percentage increase in short circuit levells for 0.4kV nodes
L1 15.73 15.775 0.01 0.07%
(N4, N12, N16, N18 and N21) is small whenn compared to rest
of 11kV nodes. It is due to impedance of the transformer, N2 431.06 444..97 13.91 3.23%
which limits the flow of short circuit current. T2 427.52 441..22 13.70 3.20%
L2 15.70 15.771 0.01 0.08%
B1 397.10 409..06 11.96 3.01%
T3 394.08 405..87 11.79 2.99%
L3 5.34 5.335 0.00 0.03%
LO1 388.32 399..80 11.47 2.95%
N3 356.65 370..13 13.48 3.78%
T4 354.19 367..50 13.31 3.76%
L4 10.54 10.554 0.01 0.07%
LO2 349.50 362..48 12.98 3.71%
LO3 349.50 362..48 12.98 3.71%
N4 328.38 341..68 13.31 4.05%
T5 326.28 339..43 13.15 4.03%
L5 15.56 15.557 0.02 0.10%
N5 225.22 231..75 6.52 2.90%
T6 224.22 230..69 6.47 2.88%
L6 15.29 15.331 0.02 0.10%
LO4 222.30 228..66 6.36 2.86%
LO5 222.30 228..66 6.36 2.86%
N6 213.95 219..86 5.91 2.76%
T7 213.04 218..90 5.86 2.75%
L7 19.91 19.994 0.03 0.14%
Short Circuit MVA
M Comparison
500
450
400
MVA

350
300
250
200
0 2 4 6 8

Before DG
G After DG
Fig. 4. Graphical comparison off short circuit level of main feeder

Fig. 3. Simulation diagram for network with

w DG
 V. CONCLUSION [5] Menghua Deng, Jun Qian, Zhenping Yan, Tao Yu, Jiaqing
Zhou, Junchao Zhang and Liyi Li., "A research of feeder
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