Optimum Fault Current Limiter Placement

Due to the difficulty in power network reinforcement and the interconnection of more distributed generations, fault current level has become a serious problem in transmission and distribution system operations. The utilization of fault current limiters (FCLs) in power system provides an effective way to suppress fault currents and result in considerable saving in the investment of high capacity circuit breakers. In a loop power system, the advantages would depend on the numbers and locations of FCL installations. This paper presents a method to determine optimum numbers and locations for FCL placement in terms of installing smallest FCL parameters to restrain short-circuit currents under circuit breakers' interrupting ratings. In the proposed approach, sensitivity factors of bus fault current reduction due to changes in the branch parameters are derived and used to choose candidates for FCL installations. A genetic-algorithm-based method is then designed to include the sensitivity information in searching for best locations and parameters of FCL to meet the requirements. Test results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.