Islanding Protection of Distribution Systems with Distributed Generators – A Comprehensive Survey Report

Anti-islanding protection schemes currently enforce the DGs to disconnect immediately for grid faults through loss of grid (LOG) protection system. This greatly reduces the benefits of DG deployment. For preventing disconnection of DGs during LOG, several islanding protection schemes are being developed. Their main objectives are to detect LOG and disconnect the DGs from the utility. This allows the DGs to operate as power islands suitable for maintaining uninterruptible power supply to critical loads. A major challenge for the islanding protection schemes is the protection co-ordination of distribution systems with bi-directional fault current flows. This is unlike the conventional overcurrent protection for radial systems with unidirectional fault current flow. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of various islanding protection schemes that are being developed, tested and validated through extensive research activities across the globe.