Investigation of Protection Schemes for Flexible Distribution of Energy and Storage Resources in an Industrial Microgrid

It is well known that the control strategies of distributed energy resources (DERs) have a major influence on the protection schemes of both DERs and distribution systems. In view of that, the coordination between DER controls, DER relays, and distribution system relays is necessary to have a secure and reliable power delivery. The Flexible Distribution of EneRgy and Storage resources (FDERS) was a recently proposed framework that is extremely valuable for industrial power systems containing large and fluctuating loads as it offers several benefits, including enhanced controllability, improved system robustness, optimal energy resource deployment, and increased lifetime. It has been earlier demonstrated that FDERS can significantly extend the mean battery replacement time in industrial power systems. As FDERS makes use of adaptive DER controls, its application is found to also impact the distribution system protection schemes. In this paper, the protection of an industrial microgrid with FDERS is investigated. Several innovative relaying schemes are proposed to mitigate any adverse impact caused during the implementation of FDERS in a microgrid.