EFFECTS OF UNIFIED POWER FLOW CONTROLLER (UPFC) ON DISTANCE RELAY TRIPPING CHARACTERISTICS IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIAN 330kV NETWORK

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of UPFC on Distance Relay tripping characteristics in the Nigerian 330kV (North-Central) Network. Its operation is based on impedance measurement at the relaying point. However, the system performance is often impeded by certain operational or structural factors such as load angle, the voltage magnitude ratio at the line ends, pre-fault line loading, and short circuit levels at the line ends. The Unified Power Flow controllers (UPFC) incorporated into the Nigerian 330kV (North-Central) Network were modelled in the environment of Power System Computer Aided Design (PSCAD) and kept within the protected zone of the relay to increase the Apparent Resistance, causing the relay to malfunction. Therefore, it is deduced by simulation analysis that the presence of UPFC in a faulted transmission line loop, protected by distance relay, greatly affects the trip boundaries of the distance relay by setting it to either an over-reaching or an under-reaching state. Hence, the tripping characteristics of distance relay with UPFC located at various points with respect to a fault on a transmission line culminated in three scenarios, the results of which are presented and discussed in this paper.