Superconducting Fault Current Limiter Placement for Power System Protection Using the Minimax Regret Criterion

In a power grid, the distributed generations (DGs) are not generally controlled by the system operator. Fault current levels in the power grid may change because of unpredictable changes in the status of noncontrollable DGs. These changes in the fault current can have an impact on the relay coordination. In this paper, the uncertainty associated with the connection status of DGs is reflected in the relay coordination. Superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) placement can be effective for reducing the fault current while eliminating misoperation of the relays caused by DGs. However, an SFCL may also have a negative impact on the operation of the relays. An effective SFCL placement method is needed because of the high cost of the SFCL and the impact on the power system protection. In this paper, an SFCL placement method based on the minimax regret criterion is proposed for power system protection considering the uncertainty of the DGs.