A new passive islanding detection technique for a microgrid based on transient energy

A new passive islanding detection technique based on transient energy that is measured and analysed at targeted distributed generation (DG) or the point of common coupling (PCC) is presented. The proposed technique measures the superimposed components and then calculates the transient active energy (TAE) and the transient reactive energy (TRE). Using the relation between TAE and the TRE, the relay can determine the islanding situation even in a worst-case operational scenario, and this is a notably shorter response time according to the current standards. The performance of the proposed technique is simulated in the MATLAB environment. Islanding and non-islanding scenarios for different power match conditions and types of DGs are simulated. The evaluation of the simulation results shows that the proposed technique identifies the islanding with a less than zero power mismatch, operates accurately under the condition of load variation, and does not conflict with the power system operation during normal conditions. It removes the passive technique drawbacks by having a tiny non-detection zone (NDZ) and a faster response.