Analysis of the impact of distributed generation on automatic reclosing

Distributed generation is changing the way electricity distribution networks are designed and operated. One of the key issues and prerequisites for having significant share of total production of distributed generation is that the operation of system protection is not jeopardized. Automatic reclosing is very important for the reliability of overhead networks. On the other hand, reclosing can be problematic when distributed generation (DG) units are connected to the network. In order to find out the impact of distributed generation on protection, dynamic simulations have been carried out. PSCAD™ transient simulation software and advanced power system models have been applied. The simulations verify the challenges distributed generation causes to protection, especially to high-speed reclosing.