Optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays in interconnected power systems

The authors present a new methodology based upon the principles of optimization theory, to treat the problem of optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays in interconnected power systems. With the application of the proposed technique, this coordination problem is stated as a parameter optimization problem, which in general, is of a large dimension, especially when many different system configurations and perturbations are to be considered. Several optimization procedures, including direct methods and decomposition techniques, for solving this large scale coordination problem are described, and results of optimally coordinating directional overcurrent relays in power systems with up to 30 buses are presented