Methodologies for Protection and Fault Diagnosis in Grid-Forming Inverter-Based Resource-Dominated Systems

• Grant number: 24/17884-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Power Systems
• Principal Investigator: Mário Oleskovicz
• Grantee: Moisés Junior Batista Borges Davi
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Climate impacts and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves have highlighted renewable technologies as sustainable solutions for future energy demands. In Brazil and worldwide, there is a growing integration of Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs). However, the operational characteristics of these IBRs have raised concerns among researchers since digital protection functions and fault diagnosis methods were initially designed for systems with conventional generators, which IBRs now impact. Although the literature addresses the challenges related to this massive insertion of IBRs, most studies focus on the analysis of Grid-Following (GFL) type IBRs. In contrast, evaluations of Grid-Forming (GFM) type IBRs are still scarce. Recently, GFM IBRs have proven to be more promising regarding systemic/operational stability and are being adopted in several power grids worldwide, replacing GFL IBRs. In this context, this project aims to evaluate the impact of GFM IBR on traditional protection and fault diagnosis methods and develop new methodologies for detecting, classifying, and locating faults in lines that interconnect such generators to the power grid. The shortcomings in the electrical power system's digital protection will also be addressed, and, as a result, methodologies that operate satisfactorily under the atypical conditions of systems with GFM IBRs will be proposed. The validation of such methods will include simulations and studies using PSCAD and MATLAB softwares and the analysis of actual waveforms obtained in the field. This project is expected to overcome gaps in existing protection and fault diagnosis methodologies, enabling the safe energy transition by integrating GFM IBRs.