2020 15th International Conference on Protection and Automation of Power Systems (IPAPS)

30-31 December, Shiraz University , IRAN

New Adaptive Decentralize Under Frequency Load-

Shedding Algorithm
2020 15th International Conference on Protection and Automation of Power Systems (IPAPS) | 978-1-6654-1229-2/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IPAPS52181.2020.9375505

Mohammad Hosein Fazaeli Mohammad Mostafa Keramat Hashem Alipour

Bureau of technical administration of Bureau of technical administration of Bureau of technical administration of
transmission network, transmission network, transmission network,
TAVANIR Holding Co. TAVANIR Holding Co. TAVANIR Holding Co.
Tehran, Iran Tehran, Iran Teheran, Iran
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Naser Khodabakshi javinani

Department of electrical and computer
engineering yadegar-e-Imam Khomeini
(R.A.H.) share Rey branch, Islamic
Azad university.
Tehran, Iran
[email protected]

Abstract— when there is a disturbance in the power grid, frequency is affected and under frequency load shedding
some power generator units are disconnected from the grid. should be performed. On the other hand, under frequency
The frequency starts to decrease. Therefore, multi-stage load shedding (UFLS) and under-voltage load shedding
frequency relays are used in power grids. The most crucial (UVLS) should be coordinated in such a way that they do not
issue with the conventional method is fixed setting; in the lead to cascading events in the grid [1-3]. In the conventional
standard method available for such relays, various phenomena method, only the frequency variable is used to recovery the
are included in the simulations, and fixed settings are applied frequency, and this method of operation is such that fixed
to the relays. In power grids, in case of large disturbance, settings called threshold frequency are given to the relays,
conventional frequency load shedding methods are not
and when the grid frequency is less than this value, the relays
efficient. In conventional load shedding methods, only the
frequency variable is considered, so in this article, besides the
start the under frequency load-shedding. These UFLS relays
frequency variable, The voltage variable and the frequency steps vary between 3 to 7. Better control can retrieve the grid
derivative are also used to perform the load shedding frequency by enhancing the relay steps [4],[15]. New
operation. In practice, what has been done in this paper is to challenges in the face of the UFLS method include various
present a load shedding algorithm in critical situations. The aspects. One of these challenges is distributing distributed
frequency can be stabilized in the allowable value, and since generation resources in the grid and different loads with
this operation is performed decentralize, there is no need for different load shedding coefficient (Load Damping). This
telecommunication between relays. What gives the proposed leads to uncertainties in the grid that show their impact on
method a distinct advantage over other methods is its the inertia of the grid.
practicality. Thus, this algorithm can be quickly done by
digital relay configuration software (such as DIGSI and Some papers focused on renewable energy and power
PCM600 software used for Siemens and ABB relays, electronic systems controlled by centralizing power system
respectively). On the other hand, the simulations were [16-28]. To this end, new computational methods and tools
performed in a real grid related to the Khorasan grid and are needed to address such issues. For example, system
compared with the common method used for frequency load parameters such as grid inertia constant time and load
shedding in Iranian grids, and the superiority of this method is damping can be estimated by Phase Measurement Units
shown. All simulations are performed in the DigSilent software (P.M.U.). In [10], the author assesses the inertia of the grid
environment. according to the Kalman filter. In [11], a method for
modelling loads is stated. Also, in [12], to account for the
Keywords— Frequency relays; Adaptable algorithm; uncertainty of loads, probabilistic load flow is acquired.
Adaptive load shedding; ROCOF. According to [13], the factors that are important in
determining the number of load shedding steps vary and
I. INTRODUCTION depend on feeder load and feeder outage. The primary
Many blackouts reports explicitly state that instability in purpose of UFLS as a comprehensive protection system is to
the busses' frequency and voltage are the main cause of the shed a certain amount of loads at particular times when the
power system's collapse. When the voltage as a local variable grid frequency is reduced. This leads to extensive changes in
is not within its standard range, it will cause reactive power control systems in the presence of distributed generation
to flow between several areas, which will increase the units, which are discussed in detail in [14]. The significant
loading on the power transmission tie-lines between these matter with UFLS is that due to the pervasiveness of the
areas. If frequency continues to decrease, the tie-lines may be frequency variable in the grid and its uniformity for all point
overloaded and exceed the allowable thermal limit, and they of the grid, in the event such as the departure of one of the
will disconnect from the grid.; this changes the topology of power generation units (power station) which lead to its exit
the grid and makes the worsen situation for frequency from the grid, regardless of where the fault is located, the
stability so that the grid faces a significant problem to load-shedding operation is performed throughout all the
providing the active power consumed by its loads the grid's point of the grid. (For example, it may happen in Bandar

978-1-6654-1229-2/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE 104

Authorized licensed use limited to: Universitas Airlangga. Downloaded on May 05,2023 at 07:07:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Abbas, and the grid will cut off part of loads of Tabriz and is between these two values. The threshold frequency is
Khorasan) However, according to [5], when disturbances obtained from Equation (2).
occur in the grid, the voltage of buses closer to the location
of a fault will be more affected On the other hand, active (∆vmax − ∆v)
f th = f H − ( f H − f L ). (2)
power consumption is often accompanied by reactive power ∆vmax
consumption so that if a passive load consumes a certain
amount of active power, depending on the type of load, it In eq.2, each of the variables is expressed as follows:
also destroys some reactive power, so when an event occurs
in the grid if only the frequency variable is used to perform f th The frequency threshold of the first phase
the decoupling operation. This eliminates some of the ∆vmax Maximum voltage deviation
reactive power consumers, which leads to an increase in the
voltage of the buses that are far from the fault location, ∆v Voltage deviation from the steady-state
which causes the tie-lines to overload, and the tie-lines
disconnect from the grid leads to the occurrence of cascading
events. Therefore, voltage variable and frequency can be III. VARIETY OF LOADS
significant factors in limiting the load-shedding operation Another issue that affects load shedding is the nature of
from the grid to the fault location. On the other hand, the loads and their dependence on voltage and frequency [4].
according to [4], the amount of grid frequency recovery time Some loads, such as electric motors, due to the nature of their
is less than the time it takes for the voltage to reach its inductors, show some resistance to a momentary voltage
nominal value, which can vary in different grids depending change when an error occurs, in such a way that they try to
on the amount of grid inertia. keep the voltage at its original value, and this causes Let the
inductive loads feel less voltage drop in the initial moments.
On the other hand, if the capacitive property of the line can
II. THE TIME DELAY BETWEEN LOAD SHEDDING inject current into these loads in the event of an error, all
STEPS these factors can affect the correct performance of the load
shedding operation, practically in terms of protection, the
One of the factors that are paid particular attention to in amount of delay intended to shed motor loads about 20
frequency recovery is considering the amount of time delay cycles are considered longer than the rest of the loads to
between load-shedding stages. The amount of this delay ensure more reliability to maintain grid stability.
should be such that the grid frequency is quickly retrieved to
prevent cascading events [6] & [4] & [29]. Also, according A. Load-shedding algorithm
to [7], if the amount of time delay is considered very small, it In this paper, load shedding operations with four-step
is impossible to pass the transient states, and the grid will relays used in most articles are compared with load shedding
collapse during the transient state stage. In general, the time operations with five-step relays that currently exist in the
delay is between several cycles and a few seconds. To Iranian grid, and finally, the proposed method as an
appreciate practical experiences, this can be expressed by algorithm New expressed. To show the advantage of the
Equation (1) with a perfect approximation. According to [4], proposed method compared to the other two ways, the grid
the minimum time when the frequency drops and this of Khorasan province, which includes 75 substations of 132
frequency drop leads to relay operation and switching off is kV, 400 kV, and 2700 MW of generators, has been used, the
between 10 to 14 cycles. According to [8], there is no single-line diagram of which is shown in Figure (1) and
comprehensive method for setting the frequency threshold of Complete information is given in [9].
frequency relays, and this is done by trial and error and due
to different errors that are likely to occur in the grid offline B. Load interruption by four-step and five-step relays
and with the help of system simulation software. Power takes As mentioned, in the four-step method, the four
place. Based on practical experience, it can be stated that the frequency threshold is set in the frequency relays, and
minimum time delay between the two stages of Equation (1) when the grid frequency reaches the threshold frequency
is calculated. of the relays, the relays start the UFLS process. The same
is true for the five steps, with the only difference being
N that this is done in five steps instead of four [4]. The relay
∆t ≥ N .T = (1)
fn settings are considered for the four-step method from [9]
and the five-step process of the practical experience
reports of Bakhtar Electric Company and are shown in
A. The basis of threshold frequency adjustment Table I.
Frequency relays (ROCOF) can calculate the frequency Table I. frequency threshold setting
derivative as well as instantaneous and effective voltage step 1 2 3 4 5
values. The operation of these relays is such that by Frequency threshold of 4
49.2 49 48.7 48.4 -
processing the voltage signal they receive instantaneously, steps relay
they can calculate the frequency, and also significant voltage Time delay(s) 1 0.5 0.3 0.1 -
Frequency threshold of 5
values are used to prioritize disconnecting loads that are steps relay
49.4 49.2 49 49.7 49.4
close to the fault. Creating an appropriate frequency Time delay(s) 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
threshold should be within a minimum amount of frequency
allowed for the grid with f L and the maximum is displayed
by f H . The amount of settings considered for these relays

105

Authorized licensed use limited to: Universitas Airlangga. Downloaded on May 05,2023 at 07:07:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
C. Load-shedding by the proposed method to the algorithm described in Fig.1, as it is known that the
The load shedding algorithm in this method is shown in frequency has reached stability at 50.013. The frequency
Figure (1). As it is known, in this method, first, the variable recovery time from both the other method is faster so that at
is considered zero; in the next step, the system frequency is 19.959 seconds, the frequency is equal to 49.75 by the five-
checked by the relay. This means that fault must have step process, but in the new plan, this value is on 49.9, also
happened in the grid and then enters the next stage, where the total time when the grid frequency in the transition mode
the voltage's R.M.S. value is limited. When the bus voltage is is below 49.5 It is 9 seconds in the new method, but it takes
less than 0.85perunit, it indicates that it is closer to the fault 13 seconds in the five-step approach. However, according to
location. Therefore, the selected bus also examines the [4], this time is less than 10 seconds, all of which indicate
variable along with the voltage. If it is zero, it indicates that superiority. This method is one of the previous two ways.
no load shedding operation has been performed on that bus
yet. Therefore, the first step of load shedding operation is
performed on it. Simultaneously, the variable is considered 50.2

equal to one, then the algorithm starts monitoring the voltage 50

and frequency again and goes through the same steps for the 49.8

next steps until the recovery of frequency is to be completed. 49.6

49.4
49.2
49
48.8
48.6
48.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

4 Steps Control 5 Steps Control New Method

Fig.2. Comparison of grid recovery frequency in four-step and five-step

methods and proposed method in scenario1.

Scenario 2: In this scenario, the tie-line between Toos-

Neishabour is disconnected at in 1.5 seconds, and the
generator units of Mashhad are disconnected as following:
Unit 1 at 2.3s & Unit 2 at 2.5s respectively. As a result line,
Torbat Jam overloaded and disconnected at 5s. As can be
seen from Figure (3), in the four-step method, the grid
frequency is stable at a value equal to 50.548, while
according to [4], the grid is practically unstable and
collapses, but the five-step method stabilizes the system
frequency at 49.901, but the new method, shown in red,
stabilizes the grid frequency at 49.999, which is much closer
to the grid frequency. Frequency recovery is faster in the new
method, which, as mentioned, is of particular importance in
frequency protection.
50.8

Fig 1. - New algorithm presented for load shedding 50.6

50.4
50.2
50
IV. SIMULATION
49.8
Scenario 1: In this scenario, the Toos-Neishabour line is 49.6
disconnected from the grid at 1.5 seconds And causes the 49.4
generator to go out of the circuit at 2 seconds. The frequency 49.2
is recovery according to the load shedding methods, as 49
shown in Fig.1. The results are also shown in Figure.2. As 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

shown in Fig.2, the four-step method is practically not 4 Steps Control 5 Steps Control New Method
capable of retrieving the grid frequency and in terms of load
Fig.3 - Comparison of grid frequency recovery in four-step and five-step
shedding standard [4] almost exceeds its allowable limit in methods and modern method in scenario2.
the steady-state Reaches stability in 49.1) and causes the
operation of the generator relays, which makes the grid itself Table II represents the total amount of loads disconnected
unstable, so the four-step method shown in the figure is from the power grid in each method and scenario. As it can
inefficient. However, the five-step method currently used in be seen proposed method had the best performance in each
Iran's electricity grid is stable at a frequency equivalent to scenario.
(49.774), which indicates this method's effectiveness.
On the other hand, the proposed method's grid frequency
recovery determines the load-shedding operation according

106

Authorized licensed use limited to: Universitas Airlangga. Downloaded on May 05,2023 at 07:07:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 TABLE II. total disconnected load in different scenarios and methods [14] M. Dzamarija and A. Keane, "Autonomous curtailment control in
distributed generation planning," IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid,
First scenario(M.W.) Second scenario(M.W.) vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 1337–1345, May 2016
Four-step relays 202 Collaps [15] M. H. Fazaeli, S. S. Aghaee, H. Nafisi, H. A. Abyaneh and S. H.
Five-step relays 139.5 541 Hosseinian, "Under frequency load shedding by considering
New method 149.7 565 instantaneous voltage and priority of loads," 2017 Conference on
Electrical Power Distribution Networks Conference (EPDC), Semnan,
V. CONCLUSION 2017,pp.167-170.
[16] A. Aghazadeh, M. Jafari, N. Khodabakhshi-Javinani, H. Nafisi and H.
In this paper, performing under frequency load shedding Jabbari Namvar, "Introduction and Advantage of Space Opposite
operations by conventional frequency relays was expressed. Vectors Modulation Utilized in Dual Two-Level Inverters With
According to operators' practical experiences and relays used Isolated DC Sources," in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics,
vol. 66, no. 10, pp. 7581-7592, Oct. 2019.
in Iran's electricity network, an adaptive solution was
presented as a new method for load shedding operations. The [17] A. Aghazadeh, M. Davari, H. Nafisi and F. Blaabjerg, "Grid
Integration of a Dual Two-Level Voltage-Source Inverter considering
settings related to the relays were taken into account. After Grid Impedance and Phase-Locked Loop," in IEEE Journal of
performing the simulations and considering the practicality Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics.
of the proposed solution, the advantage of the new method's [18] A. Aghazadeh, N. Khodabakhshi-Javinani, H. Nafisi, M. Davari and
advice is to use voltage, frequency and frequency derivative E. Pouresmaeil, "Adapted near-state P.W.M. for dual two-level
of buses to perform ufls. inverters in order to reduce common-mode voltage and switching
losses," in I.E.T. Power Electronics, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 676-685, 10 4
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 2019.
[19] M. Davari, A. Aghazadeh, W. Gao and F. Blaabjerg, "Detailed
Authors wish to extend their special thanks to Dr Dynamic DC Models of VSC considering Controls for DC-Fault
Bakhtyar HoseinZadeh , Dr. urban rudez and Andrea Bonetti Simulations in Modernized Microgrid Protection," in IEEE Journal of
for their supportive behaviour and publications. Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics.
[20] A. Aghazadeh, I. Niazazari, N. Khodabakhshi, S. H. Hosseinian and
REFERENCES H. A. Abyaneh, "A new method of single-phase active power filter
for A.C. electric railway system based on Hilbert transform," 2013
IEEE International Conference on Smart Energy Grid Engineering
[1] Amraee, T., A. Soroudi, and A. Ranjbar, Probabilistic determination (SEGE), Oshawa, ON, 2013, pp. 1-7.
of pilot points for zonal voltage control. I.E.T. Generation, [21] A. Dehghani Kiadehi, A. Aghazadeh, K. El Khamlichi Drissi and C.
transmission & distribution, 2012. 6(1): p. 1-10.
Pasquier, "New strategy to balance neutral-point voltage in three-level
[2] Begovic, M., D. Novosel, and M. Milisavljevic, Trends in power V.S.I. based on SVM regarding output current," 2015 17th European
system protection and control. Decision Support Systems, 2001. Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE'15 ECCE-
30(3): p. 269-278 Europe), Geneva, 2015, pp. 1-8.
[3] Concordia, C., L.H. Fink, and G. Poullikkas, Load shedding on an [22] Aghazadeh A, Niazazari I, Askarian Abyaneh H. Tuned Parameters of
isolated system. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 1995. 10(3): P.I.D. for Optimization of Losses in Magnetic Levitation System.
p. 1467-1472 IJRARE. 2019; 6 (1) :29-37. URL: http://ijrare.iust.ac.ir/article-1-
[4] IEEE Guide for the Application of Protective Relays Used for 213-en.html.
Abnormal Frequency Load Shedding and Restoration. IEEE Std [23] T.O. Olowu, M. Jafari, A. Sarwat "A Multi-Objective Voltage
C37.117-2007, 2007: p. 1-55. Optimization Technique in Distribution Feeders with High
[5] Kundur, P., N.J. Balu, and M.G. Lauby, Power system stability and Photovoltaic Penetration", Advances in Science, Technology and
control. 1994: McGraw-Hill. Engineering Systems Journal, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 377-385 (2019).
[6] Tang, J., et al., Adaptive load shedding based on combined frequency [24] MA Rahman, MH Shahriar, M Jafari, R Masum "Novel Attacks
and voltage stability assessment using synchrophasor measurements. against Contingency Analysis in Power Grids" arXiv preprint
IEEE Transactions on power systems, 2013. 28(2): p. 2035-2047. arXiv:1911.00928.
[7] Hoseinzadeh, B., F.F. Da Silva, and C.L. Bak. Power system stability [25] M. Jafari, T. O. Olowu, A. I. Sarwat and Mohammad Ashiqur
using decentralized under frequency and voltage load shedding. In Rahman "Study of Smart Grid Protection Challenges with High
P.E.S. General Meeting| Conference & Exposition, 2014 IEEE. 2014. Photovoltaic Penetration" 2019 North American Power Symposium
IEEE. (NAPS), Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A., 2019.
[8] Hoseinzadeh, B., F.M.F. Da Silva, and C.L. Bak, Adaptive tuning of [26] M. Jafari, T. O. Olowu and A. I. Sarwat, "Optimal Smart Inverters
frequency thresholds using voltage drop data in decentralized load Volt-VAR Curve Selection with a Multi-Objective Volt-VAR
shedding. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2015. 30(4): p. Optimization using Evolutionary Algorithm Approach," 2018 North
2055-2062. American Power Symposium (NAPS), Fargo, ND, U.S.A., 2018, pp.
[9] Sanaye ‐ Pasand, M. and H. Seyedi, Centralized adaptive load 1-6.
shedding methods to enhance power system voltage stability margins. [27] T. O. Olowu, M. Jafari and A. I. Sarwat, "A Multi-Objective
IEEJ Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2008. Optimization Technique for Volt-Var Control with High P.V.
3(6): p. 669-679. Penetration using Genetic Algorithm," 2018 North American Power
[10] M. A. M. Ariff, B. C. Pal, and A. K. Singh, "Estimating dynamic Symposium (NAPS), Fargo, ND, U.S.A., 2018, pp. 1-6.
model Parameters for adaptive protection and control in power [28] S. Rahman, M. Moghaddami, A. I. Sarwat, T. Olowu, and M.
system," IEEETransactions on Power Systems, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. Jafaritalarposhti, "Flicker Estimation Associated with P.V. Integrated
829–839, March 2015 Distribution Network," SoutheastCon 2018, St. Petersburg, FL, 2018,
[11] V. Knyazkin, C. A. Canizares, and L. H. Soder, "On the parameter pp. 1-6. G.
estimation and modeling of aggregate power system loads," IEEE [29] Mohammadsaleh Jafaritalarposhti, Saied Hamid Fathi, Hossein
Transactions On Power Systems, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 1023–1031, May Askarian Abyaneh "Impact of Critical Clearing Time on Over-current
2004. Relays Coordination in a Multi-Machine Power System in Presence
[12] J. Bogovic, U. Rudez, and R. Mihalic, "Probability-based approach of Distributed Generation and Resistive SFCL" 11th International
for Parameterization of traditional under frequency load-shedding Conference on Protection & Automation in Power System, Iran
schemes," I.E.T. Generation University of Science & Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2017.G. Eason, B.
Noble, and I. N. Sneddon, "On certain integrals of Lipschitz-Hankel
[13] L. Sigrist, I. Egido, and L. Rouco, "Performance analysis of ufls type involving products of Bessel functions," Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
schemes Of small isolated power systems," IEEE Transactions on London, vol. A247, pp. 529–551, April 1955.
Power Systems,vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1673–1680, Aug 2012.

107

Authorized licensed use limited to: Universitas Airlangga. Downloaded on May 05,2023 at 07:07:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.