A New FFT-Based Digital Frequency Relay for Load Shedding

A power system disturbance, or operating abnormality, can produce a severe generation and load imbalance, resulting in a rapid frequency decline. The possibility of such a disturbance has led to increased interest in the application of automatic under-frequency protection schemes to restore load/generation balance and to prevent equipment damage. In this paper a new method for detecting changes in the power system frequency, by relating it to a leakage coefficient in the FFT, is presented. The algorithm computes the deviation of the power system frequency from the fundamental component and the best estimate of its rate of change. The algorithm then predicts the percentage generation and load imbalance, and finally trips the appropriate amounts of load at the appropriate time delays.