Multi-Agent and State Observer-Based Technique for Microgrid Protection
Saad Alzahrani, Khalil Sinjari, Joydeep Mitra
Abstract
The protection of microgrids (MGs) is an emerging research topic due to increasing integration of distributed generation (DG). Although a microgrid can operate in two modes of operation: grid-connected and islanded, detecting the fault current poses a significant challenge, essentially when the microgrid is disconnected from the grid. This paper presents a new approach for detecting faults in multiple protection zones utilizing a Multi-Agent System (MAS) technique and state observer. The proposed framework comprises a decentralized Multi-Agent system, which will communicate, interact, and exchange the data for detecting the fault through the residual current value of the state observer at a given protection zone. The agents then send a trip signal to isolate/restore the faulted section. The proposed protection scheme has been tested and applied to the configuration of the microgrid using the Matlab/Simulink platform and has been demonstrated to be an effective means to detect the fault as well as restore power for multiple protection zones of the microgrid system.