Islanding detection methods for a micro-hydro power station - Simulation and experimental results

Distributed generation is becoming more and more a reality for the electric power system. One of the main problems encountered with this kind of generation is the potential formation of islands which could be feed by distributed generators even if the utility grid has failed. Many methods have been developed to detect this situation and they have been classified in three groups: passive methods, active methods and methods based on communication systems. This paper presents a micro-hydro power station, which is submitted to a power grid failure. Two active methods are tested in simulations and experiments in order to detect the islanding created.