© ARTVILLE

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Traditional interconnection methods
to mitigate reliability issues

HIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES GREEN These issues are not adequately discussed in IEEE

T
power distributed generation (DG) sources standard 1547, which addresses the interconnection of
(of 10 MW or less), which are connected to DG to utility systems.
a utility system at the distribution level,
and their impact on distribution Installation of Green Power
system reliability. The article also A significant amount of green
BY CHARLES J. MOZINA
summarizes the specific reliability power is being installed at the
and protection issues in inter- distribution level by means of green
connecting green power generators to utility systems power generation facilities in many parts of the United
to mitigate the aforementioned reliability issues. States and Canada. Green sources such as wind, solar,
methane (from landfills), hydro, and diesels powered from
55
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2010.936970 synthetic fuel are some of the green generation being
1077-2618/10/$26.00©2010 IEEE
 interconnected with the utility at the reclosers and sectionalizers while
distribution level. These generators others do not. Automatic reclos-
operate in parallel with utility distri- THE ENGINEER ing practices vary from utility to
bution feeders. utility.
It is forecasted by many experts that TYPICALLY n Various Types of DG Generators:
the installation of green power genera- SELECTS THE Three basic types of DG genera-
tion will be increased due to the need tors that are used have different
to provide more clean energy. Utility PROTECTION electrical characteristics. The
regulators are encouraging green power, basic types of green DG genera-
resulting in utilities seeing more and FUNCTIONS THAT tors are listed in a later section.
more green power installation on their n Interconnection Function Require-
distribution systems. ARE APPROPRIATE ments: These requirements vary
Until the passage of the Public Utility from utility to utility and are
Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) in FOR A SPECIFIC different for various megawatt
1978, U.S. utilities were not required to sizes of generators.
interconnect with small generators. At
APPLICATION. IEEE Standard 1547 [1] was an
the transmission level, there were always attempt at a national standard for DG
nonutility cogenerating industrial facili- interconnection. In the author’s view,
ties such as petrochemical plants and pulp and paper mills that IEEE 1547 provides very limited guidance to the industry
operated in parallel with the utility. But at the distribution on interconnect protection requirements other than calling
level, utilities could simply say no to small-generator owners for over/underfrequency and over/undervoltage intercon-
that wanted to operate in parallel with their system. PURPA nection protection. It also clearly defines interconnection
was the first step in utility deregulation and required utilities protection to be installed at the point of common coupling
to interconnect with small generation as long as the owners of (PCC) between the DG and utility system. The standard
such generation followed reasonable requirements set forth by cites obvious requirements for DG interconnection opera-
the utility. PURPA also provided a substantial tax incentive to tion but offers few methods, solutions, or options to meet
DG owners. By the mid-1980s, however, the tax incentive these requirements. Key issues such as potential overvol-
had expired and DG died off. tages, interconnection transformer choices, loss-of-utility-
DG remained relatively dormant until the mid-1990s relay coordination, application of DG on secondary grid
when utility rates started to increase. The driving force for networks, damage to DG generators due to unbalanced
that resurgence was the belief that power could be gener- current caused by utility single phasing, and out-of-step
ated cheaper at the point of consumption rather than the protection are not addressed to any significant level. While
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purchasing power from a utility. During this period, most the goal of 1547 was to provide standard technical require-
of the DG installations in the United States were in areas of ments for DG interconnection, it does this on a basic level
the country where the power costs were high. In these such that the solutions to problems are not addressed to the
areas, small industrial and commercial customers supplied degree required to help those struggling with the problems
from distribution circuits started to install DG in peak- cited in this article. IEEE Standard 1547 is not a document
shaving or load-following applications, where a significant that engineers in utilities or those consultants designing
portion of their load was generated on-site. Most of these DG interconnection protection can use to design their DG
generators were fired with natural gas. When natural gas facilities. In recognition that much more work was needed,
prices increased by a factor of four in the late 1990s, DG additional IEEE Standards Committees were formed.
died off again. It remained relatively dormant until the
mid-2000s when the issue of global warming came to the Basic Types of DG Generators
forefront of concerns by the states and the federal govern- IEEE 1547 discusses three basic types of DG generators.
ment. The idea of green power was born. Induction generators and synchronous generators are the
To promote green power, utility regulators either set high two traditional types of dispersed generators that operate
buyback prices for power generated from green sources or interconnectedly with the utility system. The third type is
required utilities to generate a portion of their future power an inverter-based DG that do not operate in synchronism
needs from green sources. Green sources included are as fol- with the utility system.
lows: wind, solar, hydro, fuel cells, biomass, diesels powered
from synthetic fuels, and methane from landfills that power Induction Generators
gas turbines or diesels. DG induction machines were typically small to less than
500 kVA. These machines were restricted in size, because
An Update on DG Interconnection their excitation is provided by an external source of var. In
Standards and Guidelines recent years, power electronic-controlled capacitors have
In an attempt to facilitate the installation of DG generation, been installed on the terminals of these units to provide a
a number of efforts have been made to try to standardize controlled source of excitation. This has allowed induction
interconnection protection requirements. This has proven generators to increase in size to approximately 3.0 MW.
to be extremely difficult due to the following variables: Induction generators are similar to induction motors and
n Design Variations of Utility Distribution Circuits: Some are started like a motor (no synchronizing equipment
utilities use fuse saving while others choose not to needed). Induction generators are less costly than synchro-
56
try to overtrip line fuses. Some utilities use line nous generators because they have no field windings. These
machines can supply real power (watts) to the utility but
require a source of reactive power (vars), which in some
cases is provided by the utility system. These generators
can provide fault current for only a few cycles for faults on Loads Feeder Island
the utility system. Interconnection protection associated
with induction generators typically requires only over-/ DG
undervoltage and frequency relaying. Self-commutation is
Loads
also possible with utility pole-top capacitors and can result in
nonsinusoidal waveforms and overvoltage. This point is dis-
cussed later in this article. Induction generators are typically DG creates a feeder
Loads island, inhibiting automatic
used in wind applications.
reclosing, and creates
Loads potential power-quality
Synchronous Generators issues.
Synchronous generators have a dc field winding to provide Loads
a source of machine excitation. They can be a source of both
watts and vars to the utility system and require synchroniz-
ing equipment to be paralleled with the utility. These gen-
erators can provide sustained fault current for faults on the
utility system. Synchronous generators are typically inter-
nal combustion engines (diesels), gas turbines, and small
hydrogenerators.

Asynchronous Generators Utility Substation

Nontraditional, small dispersed generators, especially micro-
turbines, fuel cells, and photovoltaic technologies, are being
talked about more frequently as an energy source for the next
decade. Most of these devices are asynchronously connected
to the power system through static power converters (SPCs).
These SPCs are solid-state microprocessor-controlled thyris-
tor devices that convert dc or ac voltage at one frequency to
60-Hz system frequencies. IEEE Standard 929 and Under-
writers Laboratory (UL) 1741 provide guidance on SPC
1
Islanded operation of DG with the utility system that is
generally not allowed.
only critical loads are reserved for the DG. Restoration
requires synchronizing the DG island to the utility system.
Figure 2 illustrates the DG islanding that is allowed.
Interconnection Protection

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design. Digital electronic control of the SPC regulates the Interconnection protection allows the dispersed generators
device’s power output and shuts down the machine when to operate in parallel with the utility grid. Typically, pro-
the utility system is unavailable. These systems typically tection requirements to connect a dispersed generator to
provide only a few cycles of current for system faults. Some the utility grid are established by individual utilities or
of the newest microturbines, which are permanent magnet state guidelines. These guidelines generally cover smaller
generators that generate power at high frequency, have a generators. Typically, interconnection protection for these
built-in antiislanding protection to detect when the genera-
tor is not operating in parallel with the utility. The ability to
verify the performance of this scheme through traditional
testing is difficult. Thus, the utility must rely on factory
Loads
tests of the system. The need for traditional independent
protection to avoid system islanding is thus required by DG
some utilities, while others rely on antiislanding protection
Loads DG Island
embedded in the microprocessor control.

Islanding—What’s Allowed? DG can create its

Loads own island and
When a DG separates from the power system, it generally resynchronize to
cannot be islanded with utility loads external to the DG Loads the utility.
facility. This creates restoration problems for the utility as
well as potential power-quality issues. The DGs typically Loads
cannot maintain voltage and, in many cases, cannot maintain
frequency and harmonics within acceptable levels at utility
loads external to the DG facility. Reclosing to restore the cir-
cuit is also greatly complicated and would require synchro-
nizing equipment. Figure 1 illustrates the islanded operation
of a DG with the utility system that is generally not allowed.
DGs can island with the local load at the DG facility.
This type of islanding is allowed and is done where there is Utility Substation
enough DG generation to supply local load at the DG facil- 2
57
ity. In some cases, load shedding may be required so that Islanded operation of the DG that is allowed.
 generators is installed at the PCC between the utility and [Figure 3(b)] depending on ownership and utility intercon-
DG. This can be at the secondary of the interconnection nect requirements.
transformer [Figure 3(a)] or at the primary of the transformer
Interconnection Transformer Grounding
The selection of the interconnection transformer grounding is
one of the most important decisions in the development of the
Utility DG interconnection project. In the United States, distribution
Ungrounded systems range from 4 to 34.5 kV and are multigrounded four-
Primary Only wire systems (Figure 4). The use of this type of system allows
single-phase, pole-top transformers, which typically make up
Interconnection the bulk of the feeder load, to be rated at line-to-neutral (L-N)
Transformer Utility System voltage. Thus, on a 13.8-kV distribution system, single-phase
DG Interconnection transformers would be rated at 13.8 kV/1.73–8 kV. Figure 4
DG System
Protection shows a typical feeder circuit. For synchronous generator DG
Sync PCC interconnections, L-N rated transformers and lightning arrest-
ors can be subjected to damaging overvoltages depending on
the choice of the DG interconnection transformer.
Five transformer connections are widely used to inter-
DG Loads Loads connect dispersed generators to the utility system. Each of
(a) these transformer connections has its own advantages and
disadvantages. There is no standard transformer connection
Utility
to connect a DG to the utility’s distribution system. The
DG Interconnection utility and DG owner have only two basic choices in select-
Protection
ing the primary winding configuration of the interconnec-
Sync
tion transformer:
Utility System
1) unground primary windings (delta or wye un-
DG System
grounded) and risk possible overvoltages
Interconnection
Transformer
2) ground the primary windings (wye grounded) and
PCC potentially disrupt feeder relay ground coordination
through the injection of unwanted ground current.
Figure 5 shows a number of possible transformer con-
nection choices and some of the advantages or problems
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associated with each connection.

DG Loads Loads
(b) Ungrounded Primary Transformer Windings
3 The major concern with an interconnection transformer
Interconnection protection applied at the (a) secondary with an ungrounded primary winding is that after the sub-
and (b) primary of the interconnection transformer. station breaker A (Figure 5) is tripped for a permanent
ground fault at location F1, the multigrounded system is
ungrounded. This subjects the L-N rated pole-top trans-
formers and lightning arrestors on the unfaulted phases to
Loads DG Facility an overvoltage that can approach line-to-line (L-L) voltage.
This occurs if the DG is near the capacity of the load on the
DG feeder when breaker A trips. The resulting overvoltages will
saturate the pole-top transformers, which normally operate
Loads at the knee of the saturation curve, as well as damage
Pole Top Line-to-Neutral lightning arresters. Many utilities use ungrounded intercon-
Loads Connected Transformer nection transformers only if a 200% or more overload on the
A DG occurs when breaker A trips. During ground faults, this
Loads B
C overload level will not allow the voltage on the unfaulted
Loads phases to rise higher than the normal L-N voltage, avoiding
N pole-top transformer saturation and potential lightning
arrester failure. For this reason, ungrounded primary wind-
ings should generally be reserved for smaller DGs, where
overloads of at least 200% are expected upon islanding.

Grounded Primary Transformer Windings

The major disadvantage with this connection is that it pro-
vides an unwanted ground fault current for supply circuit
Utility Substation faults and reduces the current from breaker A at the utility
4 substation. This can result in a loss of ground relay coordi-
58
Typical four-wire distribution feeder circuit. nation. Consider the following cases:
 1) If the fault is near the end of the feeder, the reduc-
tion in substation ground fault current may result
in the substation ground fault relaying not respond-
ing to the fault. If this is the case, the utility will
have to add a pole-top line reclosure to detect
ground faults near the end of the feeder circuit.
2) If the utility uses a fuse-saving scheme, the reduction
of source current and increase in total fault current seen
by the fuse can result in failure to overtrip fuses, result-
ing in loss of coordination with substation relaying.
3) If the fault is on an adjacent feeder (F2 in Figure 5),
the resulting ground current flow through the sub-
station bus could result in loss of coordination and
an undesirable tripping of breaker A. To avoid this
situation, the overcurrent feeder relays at breaker A
may have to be directionalized to respond to faults
only on feeder A.
4) If a wye (primary)–delta (secondary) transformer con-
nection is used, a grounding transformer has, in
effect, been installed on the feeder. Even when the
DG is not operating, a ground current will follow
for faults on the supply feeder as well as for ground
faults on any of the feeders connected to the same
bus as the DG feeder. In addition, an unbalanced
load, which on a four-wire system shows up as a zero
sequence current, will be divided between the sub-
station ground source and the DG transformer. This
can result in tripping at the DG location by ground
overcurrent relaying in the DG transformer neutral.
The load unbalance is the sum of the unbalance cur-
rents on all feeders connected to the same bus as the
DG feeder. There are utilities that install a neutral
reactor in the wye winding to reduce the ground
current from the DG. The reactor must be selected
Low High
Voltage Voltage
(Sec.) (Pri.)
A faults at F3.
Utility Substation
F2
Load
Interconnection
Transformer Load
Connections
F1
DG
F3
Interconnection transformer connections.
such that the feeder remains effectively grounded
when the source breaker (A) trips.
5) If a wye–wye transformer connection is used, the
ground relays at breaker A can respond to a ground
fault at location F3 that requires coordinating the
ground protection at breaker A with local ground
protection at the DG. It is the general practice at
industrial and commercial medium-voltage facilities
to ground generator neutrals with a resistor to limit
the ground current between 200 and 400 A. This
causes a large zero sequence impedance. Thus, for a
permanent feeder supply ground fault (F1), the volt-
age shift on the unfaulted phase will shift to L-L volt-
age, similar to an ungrounded primary winding case.
IEEE 1547 addresses the question of overvoltages and
relay coordination that can be caused by a DG operating in
parallel with the utility distribution system with a single
sentence that states, “the grounding scheme of the DG inter-
connection shall not cause overvoltages that exceed the rat-
ing of the equipment connected to the area electric power
system and shall not disrupt the coordination of the ground
fault protection on the area electric system.” The considera-
tions to do this are not spelled out in the standard and are a
major shortcoming of the document. Ground concerns are
covered in greater depth in the IEEE 1547.2 [2] guide.
DG Ferroresonance
The phenomenon of self-excitation of induction generators
has been known for many years. It occurs when an isolated
generator is connected to a system having capacitance equal
to or greater than the magnetizing reactance requirements.
When a DG is islanded with pole-top distribution system
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capacitor banks, a unique form of ferroresonance can occur.
The ferroresonance is not confined to induction generators
Problems Advantages
Can supply the feeder circuit Provides no ground current for
from an ungrounded source faults at F1 and F2 to disrupt
after substation breaker A trips, ground relay coordination.
causing potential overvoltages. Ground relaying at breaker A
will not respond to ground
Provides unwanted ground No overvoltages for ground
current for supply faults at faults at F1. Ground relaying
F1and F2 that can disrupt as breaker A will not respond
relay coordination. System to ground faults at F3.
unbalance current circulates
in transformer delta.
Allows feeder ground relaying at No ground overvoltages for
breaker A to respond to ground ground faults at F1 if
faults at F3. If the generator is generator is solidly
grounded with a resistor in the grounded.
neutral, it will create a high zero
sequence impedance that can
in effect unground the system
when breaker A trips for a
ground fault at F1.
5
59
 4) there must be a transformer in the circuit to
provide nonlinearity.
2
VA
0
If all these conditions exist, ferroresonance can occur.
2
What are the techniques for mitigating the resulting over-
voltages? Studies have shown that both induction and
VB

0
2
synchronous generators are susceptible. Also, all types of
interconnection transformer connections (wye–delta, delta–
VC

0
–2
–4
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Time (s)
(6 kHz Sample Frequency,
1 kHz Plot Frequency Using Largest of Six Samples)
6 is not as simple as it sounds, since the voltage waveshape for
Overvoltages caused by ferroresonance. A 50-kW
synchronous DSG, 9-kW load, 100-kvar capacitance, and
wye–delta step-up transformer. Maximum voltage: A ¼ 2.74
p.u., B ¼ 2.34 p.u., C ¼ 2.92 p.u.
but can also occur on synchronous machines. Overvoltages
of over 3.0 per unit can occur. The discharging and charging
of the system capacitance through nonlinear magnetizing
reactance of the DG interconnection transformer produce
these overvoltages. The ferroresonance associated with DG
differs from the traditional ferroresonance caused by single-
phase switching in that no unbalanced condition is neces-
sary. A detailed description of the phenomenon is contained
in an IEEE article titled, “Relay Performance in DGS
Islands” [3]. It identifies the following conditions needed
for ferroresonance:
1) the DG must be separated from the utility source
(islanded condition)
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wye, wye–wye, and delta–delta) are susceptible. Surge arrest-
ers will clip the peaks of the overvoltage but will not suppress
the ferroresonance condition and may be damaged in the
process. Metal-oxide arresters have an increased ability to sur-
vive longer, but they can also be damaged. The most practical
solution is to trip the DG to remove the driving source. This
this resonance condition is nonsinusoidal.
A major concern in trying to detect this condition with a
digital relay is that with frequency and voltage waveshapes
not sinusoidal and at normal system frequency, overvoltage
and frequency measurements will be effected to where the
digital relay may not operate. The measurement of peak
overvoltage rather than RMS provides the best solution for
the detection of this type of event. IEEE 1547 does not
mention the possibility of ferroresonance, another short-
coming of the standard. An example of a ferroresonance
voltage waveform is shown in Figure 6 and was taken from
the field tests conducted in New York State in the 1980s.
DG Interconnection Protection
Methods and Practices
The functional levels of interconnection protection vary
widely depending on factors such as generator size, point of
interconnection to the utility distribution system, type of

2) the kilowatt load in the island must be less than generator (induction, synchronous, and asynchronous), and
three times the rating of the DG interconnection transformer configuration. As shown in Table
3) the system capacitance must be greater than 25% 1, specific objectives of an interconnection protection system
and less than 500% of the rating of the DG as well as the relay functional requirements to accomplish
each objective can be listed. Other than a very simplistic
discussion of the detection of loss of parallel with the utility,
TABLE 1. INTERCONNECTION PROTECTION AREAS.
IEEE 1547 does not address protection areas such as use of
Interconnection Protection Protection fault current at the DG facility to detect supply tripping,
Objectives Functions Used abnormal power flow, and damaging system conditions.
Detection of loss of parallel 81 O/U, 81R*, 27/
with the utility system 59, TT**, 32*** Detection of Loss of Parallel
Operation with the Utility System
Supply fault detection Phase faults: 51 V, The most basic and universal means of detecting loss of paral-
67, 21 lel operation with the utility is to establish an over/ underfre-
Ground faults: quency (81 O/U) and over/undervoltage (27/59) window
51 N, 67 N, 59 N within which the DG is allowed to operate. The sensitive set-
27 N ting of both the underfrequency and voltage windows pre-
vents the DG from supporting the power system during
Detection of damaging 47, 46, 591, 78
emergency conditions. When the DG is islanded from the
system conditions
utility system, either due to a fault or other abnormal condi-
Abnormal power flow 32 tion, the frequency and voltage will quickly move outside the
detection operating window if there is a significant difference between
Restoration 25 load and dispersed generation levels. If the load and generator
are near a balance at the time of separation, voltage and
O/U: over/under frequency; 81 is the relay function number for frequency may stay within the normal operating window, and
frequency. under/overfrequency and over/undervoltage tripping may not
*
Rate of change of frequency. take place. If this is a possibility, then a transfer trip (TT)
**
Transfer trip. using a reliable means of communication may be necessary.
***
Rule 21 California. As discussed in the previous section, when induction or
60
synchronous DGs are islanded with pole-top capacitors and
the generator capacity is near that of the
islanded load, a resonant condition that OPERATING
produces a non-sinusoidal overvoltage
can occur. For these cases, an instantane- GREEN POWER
ous overvoltage relay (59I) that responds
to peak overvoltage needs to be used to DGS IN PARALLEL
detect this situation. Interconnection
protection requirements in the state of WITH UTILITY
California are defined in a filing to the
state utility commission called Rule 21. DISTRIBUTION
A key provision of this rule is the unique SYSTEMS IS NOT
application of a directional power relay-
ing (32) to detect loss of utility parallel WITHOUT
operation. This provision is only applica-
ble to DG units that are installed for HAZARDS.
peak shaving or load following and do
not sell power back to the utility.
Supply Fault Detection
On many small DGs, no specific supply fault detection is gen-
erally provided. Induction generators provide only two or three
cycles of fault current to external faults similar to induction
motors. Small synchronous machines are typically so overloaded
after the utility substation breaker trips that their fault current
contribution is very small. For these small generators as well as
asynchronous generators, the detection of loss of parallel opera-
tion via 81 O/U and 27/59 relays is the only interconnection
protection necessary. The larger the synchronous DG, the
greater is the chance that it will contribute significant current
to a utility system fault. For this situation, supply fault back-
feed detection in addition to loss of parallel operation protection
is generally provided. Typically, relay functions, such as 67, 21,
Restoration
Once the DG has been separated from the
utility system, after interconnection pro-
tection operation, the interconnection
must be restored. Two DG tripping/resto-
ration practices are widely used within
the industry. The first restoration method
(Case 1) is used in applications where the
generation at the dispersed generation
facility does not match the local load. In
these cases, interconnection protection
typically trips the DG breakers, as illus-
trated in Figure 7. When the utility sys-
tem is restored, the dispersed generators
are typically automatically resynchron-
ized. Many utilities require a synchro-
check relay (25) at the main incoming
breaker to supervise reclosing as a security measure to avoid
unsynchronized closure. The synchrocheck relay is generally
equipped with dead bus undervoltage logic to allow reclosure
from the utility system for a dead bus condition at the dispersed
generation facility.
The second restoration method (Case 2) is used where the
DG roughly matches the local load. In these cases, the inter-
connection protection trips the main incoming breaker
(breaker A), as illustrated in Figure 8. In many cases, the dis-
persed generation facility may have internal underfrequency
Utility
Multifunction

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or 51 V, are used to provide phase-fault detection. When devel- Interconnection Relay
oping settings for the 67 and 21 relays, the relay pickup setting Protection 25
must be set above the level of generator current being supplied
by the DG to the utility system. Ground fault backfeed A
removal depends on the primary winding connection of the Supervises A
interconnection transformer. For grounded primary transformer Reclosing
windings, a 51-N neutral overcurrent relay or, in some cases, a Auto Auto
B C L Trips B and C
Sync Sync
67-N ground directional relay is used. For ungrounded inter-
connection transformers, neutral overvoltage relays (59 N, 27
G G Loads
N) provide the detection for supply ground faults.
7
Detection of Damaging System Conditions Restoration after interconnection tripping—Case 1.
The major damaging condition that can be imposed on the
synchronous and induction generators by the utility system
is single phasing. Negative sequence current (46) and volt- Utility
age protection (47) is provided to detect this condition.
Negative sequence voltage detection prevents resynchro- Multifunction
nizing of the generator after a tripping if an open conduc- Interconnection Relay
tor condition exists. Out-of-step (78) protection is used to Protection 25
detect loss of synchronism for diesel generators, which have
very low inertia and can lose synchronism if subjected to A
sustained low voltage caused by a slow-clearing fault.
Supervises A
Abnormal Power Flow Reclosing
Auto Auto
A directional power relay function (32) is used in peak-shav- Sync B Sync C L Trip A
ing and load-flowing DG applications, where the DG is
operated to supply only a portion of the local load at the
G G Loads
installation and there is no intent to sell the power back to
the utility. The directional power relay is used to enforce the 8
61
contract that states that no power will flow to the utility. Restoration after interconnection tripping—Case 2.
 The full interconnection protection for
Distribution Line a typical ungrounded interconnection
Multifunctional Relay
transformer is shown in Figure 10. For
Substation the ungrounded interconnection trans-
TT**
T Abnormal formers, neutral voltage relays (59 N,
Fault Backfeed Damaging Power
Removal Conditions Flow Loss of Parallel 27 N) provide the detection for supply
R ground faults. As previously stated, the
47 27 59 591 81/ 81/ functional levels of interconnection pro-
O U
tection vary widely, depending on fac-
2 or 3 VTs 67N tors such as generator size, point of
* interconnection to the utility distribu-
3-CT 67 51V 46 78 32
tion system, type of generator (induc-
51N tion, synchronous, and asynchronous),
and interconnection transformer config-
1-CT
uration. The engineer typically selects
* Or 21 Function.
the protection functions that are appro-
** May Be Required Depending on DG Size.
priate for a specific application.
G DG
Conclusions
9 Operating green power DGs in paral-
Protection for a moderately sized synchronous DG with a wye-grounded (Pri) lel with utility distribution systems is
interconnection transformer. not without hazards. This article has
attempted to highlight these and
other problems and concerns, and it
Supply Circuit offers solutions or options for the con-
Substation TT** sideration of both utilities and DG
Multifunctional Relay
T owners. The stated goal of IEEE 1547
Abnormal is a single document of standard
R Fault Backfeed Damaging Power technical requirements for DG inter-
1 or 3 VTs Removal Conditions Flow Loss of Parallel
connection. The standard does this on
47 27 59 591 81/ 81/ such a basic level that solutions to real
Y or Δ 59N 27N O U
problems are not addressed to the
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degree required to help those strug-

2 or 3 VTs *
3-CT 67 51V 46 78 32 gling with the problems cited. In
recognition that much more work
* Or 21 Function. needs to be done, additional IEEE
** May Be Required Depending on DG Size. Standards Committees (particularly
1547.2) [2] address the problems cited
DG
in this article in more detail. The con-
10 nection of significant amounts of DG
Protection for a moderately sized synchronous DG with an ungrounded (Pri) to distribution circuits will require a
interconnection transformer. major shift away from the traditional
interconnection method cited in this
load shedding as is the practice at the petrochemical and pulp article. Major innovations such as microgrids or other such
and paper facilities to match the local load to available dis- technical breakthroughs will be necessary.
persed generation after the utility separation. To resynchron-
ize the dispersed generation facility to the utility system, a References
more sophisticated synchrocheck relay is required, which not [1] Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems,
only measures phase angle but also slips frequency and volt- [2] IEEE Standard 1547, 2003.
Application Guide for IEEE 1547 Standard for Interconnecting Distributed
age difference between the utility and dispersed generation Resources with Electric Power Systems, IEEE Standard 1547.2, 2008.
systems. Typically, such relays supervise automatic, manual, [3] C. Wagner, W. Ferro, W. Gish, and R. Jones, “Relay performance in
and supervisory reclosing. DGS islands,” IEEE Power Delivery, vol. 4, pp. 122–131, Jan. 1989.
Typically, a microprocessor or switching scheme is used to [4] C. J. Mozina, “Interconnection protection of dispersed generators,” in
Proc. 2001 IEEE/PES Transmission Distribution Conf., vol. 2, pp. 707–723.
switch the source of line-side voltage to the automatic synchro- [5] C. J. Mozina, “Interconnection protection of IPP generators at commer-
nizing equipment to the voltage transformer (VT) on the utility cial/industrial facilities,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 37, no. 3,
supply breaker. Then breaker (A) is used to resynchronize to pp. 681–688, May/June 2001.
the utility system.
Charles J. Mozina (cmozina@aol.com) is with Beckwith Elec-
Typical Protection for Moderately Sized tric Company in Largo, Florida. Mozina is a Senior Member
Synchronous DGs of the IEEE. This article first appeared as “Impact of Green
Figure 9 shows the full interconnection protection for a typical Power Generation on Distribution Systems” at the 2009 IEEE
62
wye-grounded primary winding interconnection transformer. Rural Electric Power Conference.