A Review on Distribution Grid Fault Location Techniques

Electricity customers are usually connected to the power system networks through distribution grids, and any interruption in these grids causes customer minute loss (CML). Most of the CMLs are caused due to different types of faults sustained for a longer period of time. Therefore, rapid fault location techniques are very necessary in order to restore the power supply quickly by reducing outage durations and revenue losses. To expedite restoration process and to ensure reliable power supply in traditional distribution networks, many fault location techniques were presented by researchers with satisfactory accuracy for last two decades. However, the recent trends of adopting distributed generators (DGs) to distribution grids are disturbing grid protection schemes by changing their technical parameters and direction of current/power flows. Additionally, the accuracy of traditional fault lactation techniques is also being affected significantly. The aim of this research paper is to review the available fault location techniques in distribution grid as well as to highlight the potential research opportunities in this field.