Fault localization for transmission lines with optimal Phasor Measurement Units

This paper discusses a novel fault localization algorithm for multi-terminal transmission lines. The technique is tested for different fault types and fault locations. The exact fault location is determined along with the latitude and longitude by involving geo-referenced data of the power system. In addition, Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are effectively used for complete system observability. The number of PMUs is optimised using Genetic Algorithm. Thus, the objective is to find the distance of the fault occurrence and to locate the fault point along with the latitude and longitude, using optimal PMUs. For evaluation purpose, Indian Utility (TamilNadu Electricity Board) 49 bus system is used and validated, using software such as MATLAB, Power World Simulator and Google Earth View. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique to spot the exact fault point in the transmission lines with a minimum number of PMUs, to make the concept economical. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.