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Use of a Sub Harmonic Protection Relay to Detect SSO Conditions Associated

with Type-III Windfarms and Series Compensated Transmission Systems

N. PERERA, K. NARENDRA
ERLPhase Power Technologies Ltd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

SUMMARY

With the increased use of renewable wind energy, wind farms are being built in remote areas, often far
from load centres. Required long transmission lines are often constructed with series capacitive
compensation to electrically shorten the lines. Events in the transmission system can cause interactions
between natural frequencies of the series capacitors and the system's inherent impedance, which can
result in sub-synchronous resonance (SSR). Modern wind turbine systems use advanced electronic
control and converter systems, which can generate harmonics and inter harmonics. Mechanical system
interactions (tower-to-blade) can also generate sub-harmonics. Wind generator speeds vary
continuously depending on the availability of wind at any particular time. Therefore wind farms now
face a challenge to predict when (and to what extent) harmonics and sub-harmonics are being
introduced to the power system. Although the electromagnetic transient type simulation based studies
are being carried out to estimate aforementioned quantities and the sub harmonic protection relays are
available in the market, usability of the simulation results for setting up a protection relay for
protecting an actual system has become a challenge. In literature, limited work has been presented
associated with developing adequate settings for sub harmonic relays. This paper investigates the use
of a sub harmonic protection relay for detecting the sub synchronous oscillation (SSO) conditions
generated due to the interaction of series compensated transmission systems.

KEYWORDS

Sub-harmonics, Protection, Series Compensation, Wind farms, Sub Synchronous Oscillation

nperera@[Link], knarendra@[Link]
INTRODUCTION

Worldwide expeditious installation of renewable and distributed energy resources (DERs) is

occurring. To achieve faster execution of these projects, most of the existing transmission systems are
being upgraded with the addition of various compensating devices such as SVCs, series capacitors,
shunt compensators to support wind farms, large PV systems, and other DERs. In this context, the
operation of the power grid due to the additional energy resources is posing new challenges in the field
of power system protection, monitoring, and control. One of the major issues faced by the utilities
with regards to interconnection of DERs into the grid is SSO generated due to the interaction of
various elements in the power system [1].

In recent literature, several SSO events have been reported in the existing installations with wind
turbine and series compensated systems [2]. System studies carried out using simulation models of the
windfarms has confirmed that controllers of Type-III windfarms are more susceptible to interact with
series compensated systems to generate unstable SSO conditions [3-5]. Lack of knowledge and
availability of suitable protection methodology have led some of these events to damage the hardware
components associated with windfarms and series compensating system. Figure-1 shows the
oscillography captured during a real SSO event captured by a digital fault recorder. As it can be
observed from the sub-harmonic spectrum, sub-harmonics in the range of 9-13 Hz were reported as
dominant. As most of the conventional protection relays operate based on the power frequency
(50/60Hz) components, such resonance conditions was not detected by those relays in the system.

Fig. 1. Field recorded waveform during a SSO condition

In order to overcome the SSO issues associated with Type-III windfarms, research has been carried
out to change the controller designs to eliminate the possibility of generating sub-harmonics [6-7].
Although the modern Type-III windfarm controllers have been developed with the capability of
mitigating the SSO conditions associated with series compensated lines, it is not possible to eliminate
the SSO phenomena due the nature of continuously changing topological network conditions. Also,
there are several existing installations that are equipped with older Type-III windfarm controller
designs which are susceptible to aforementioned SSO conditions. Therefore, the use an appropriate
SSO protection method to prevent system damages against such SSO conditions has been identified as
essential. In addition, international regulatory authorities such as the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC) have mandated the use of SSO protection for such applications [8].
This paper discusses the key considerations in developing such a protection methodology using a
microprocessor based numerical sub-harmonic protection relay.

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PROTECTION USING A SUB-HARMONIC RELAY
During recent years, the use of a sub harmonic relay to provide the protection against such conditions
has become attractive. Based on the reported practical application case studies, SSO protection
applications used by different utilities can be broadly categorized into two main types (i) use of a sub
harmonic relay to by-pass the series capacitors and (ii) use of a sub harmonic relay to trip the
windfarms at collector locations. Brief explanations on these applications are provided below.
By-pass Series Capacitors
Figure 2 shows the arrangement of a sub-harmonic protection relay configured to by-pass the series
capacitors. In this arrangement, the sub-harmonic relay takes the measurements from the transmission
line for analysis. For this application, measurements can be taken from any point on the transmission
line and provide more economical use for users compared to the other approach explained below.
However, determination of protection settings for this application may require the analysis of multiple
contingencies as decisions are made based on the full current flow on the line. It should be noted that
in this arrangement, relay can also be used to trip the transmission line instead of by-passing the
capacitors.

Fig. 2. Relay arrangement for by-passing the series capactior

Trip Wind Farms

Figure 3 shows the arrangement of the protection relays configured to trip the windfarms. In this
arrangement, the relays are installed at wind farm collector locations. Depending on the arrangement
of the collector feeders, measurements from multiple or single points may be required. Such
requirements have to be accessed and selected appropriately. However, the use of local measurements
provides more flexibility and selectivity for settings compared to the approach explained above. It
should be noted that in this arrangement, decisions from relays can also be used to by-pass the series
capacitors or trip the transmission line completely.

Fig. 3. Relay arrangement for tripping the windfarm

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UNDERSTANING OF SUB-HARMONICS AND PRACTICAL CHALANGES
ASSOCIATED WITH SUB-HARMONICS

As described in above section, the relays could be installed at transmission line substation or collector
substation. For both application considerations, objective of the relay is to determine unstable sub-
harmonic conditions generated by the interaction of windfarm and series compensated lines to perform
required control actions.

In the process of developing the protection settings, special attention should be given to several
practical considerations as described below.

Nature of Sub-harmonics
Sub-harmonics have a wider range of frequency, typically around 5-45 Hz for 50Hz power system and
around 5-55Hz for 60Hz power system. Therefore, accurate magnitude estimation of a particular
frequency component requires a minimum time delay proportional to the inverse of that frequency. In
addition, energies carried at different frequencies have different effect on the performance of different
power components in the system.

Effect of Normal Faults

Normal transmission line or associated component faults may generate sub-harmonics depending on
the location of the faults and location of the series capacitor installations. Usually, the nature of these
sub-harmonics is temporary and well damped. However, if the power system is in a state/contingency
where unstable SSO can be generated due to the interaction of windfarm controller and a series
capacitor, normal faults can initiate the unstable SSO. The pickup time delays used in the protection
logic plays a major role in differentiating stable SSO verses unstable SSO.

Effect of Non-faulty Trainsets

The normal transients such as transformer inrush, normal faults, current transformer saturation etc.
could mislead the sub-harmonic calculations. In addition, presence of lower order harmonics may also
mislead the sub-harmonic calculations. Therefore, in selecting a sub-harmonic relay, it is essential to
ensure that the relay is capable of handling these scenarios to ensure correct and secure operation. If
voltage sub-harmonics measurements are used for decision making, special attention shall be given to
differentiate capacitive voltage transformer (CVT) generated sub-harmonics versus unstable SSO
generated from the system or controller interactions. In such application, appropriate pickup time
delays should be used to cope up with the physical phenomena.

Sources of Errors
In using digital sub-harmonic protection to estimate SSO, there are a number of sources of errors.
These errors include those introduced by analog sensors (CTs, PTs and CVTs), analog to digital
convertor (ADC) resolutions and computation errors. It should be noted that analog sensors are
designed to provide accurate phase angle/magnitude responses near nominal frequency components
and accuracies below nominal frequency (sub-harmonic range) will be different. In addition, in
digital protection relays, the ADC resolutions are set based on the maximum voltage and current
magnitude limits at nominal frequencies. Magnitudes of sub-harmonics that need to be detected could
be significantly lower compared to those maximum limits and therefore special attention shall be
given in selecting the ratings. Furthermore, depending on the estimation technique used by the relay,
the computational errors could be higher in estimating decimal frequencies. In selecting a suitable
protection relay, all these factors shall be carefully evaluated and appropriate margins shall be
provided in the protection settings. Decimal sub harmonic estimation (e.g. 22.3 Hz) helps to
accurately estimate the possible resonance frequencies between the mechanical and electrical systems.

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Limitations in Modelling and Simulation
Use of electromagnetic transient (EMT) type simulation programs for protection setting validation is
recommended by the common standards such as CIGRE, IEEE, IET, etc. Although the SSO conditions
associated with windfarms and series compensated system can be simulated and modelled using
simulation programs, there several practical limitations involved.

 Unavailability of accurate system models

 Limitation with simulation bandwidth
 Limitation with simulation of multiple contingencies
 Modelling limitations with instrument transformers, etc.

Therefore, in most of the practical scenarios, protection settings have to be determined based on the
limited information available from the simulation studies. Some applications may not have the results
from all contingencies of the system.

Current Sub-harmonics and Voltage Sub-harmonics

One of the common queries related to the SSO conditions associated with windfarm/series capacitor
application is the selection of most suitable input signal for successful detection of unstable sub-
harmonics. The field recorded waveforms and EMT-type simulation based investigations confirmed
that sub-harmonics on current measurements are more dominant compared to those of the terminal
voltage measurements compared with relative fundamental values. In addition, the sub-harmonics on
terminal voltage measurements are dependent on the source-side impedance. Therefore, it is a
common practice to use current signals as the primary (fast) protection method and the voltage signals
as the back-up (slow) protection method.

DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTION SETTINGS

Setting-1
Freq. range: F1min-F1max
Mag. pick-up (nominal %): V1mag/I1mag (sec/pri)
Time pick-up: T1

Setting-2
Freq. range: F2min-F2max Trip/By-pass
V or I Mag. pick-up (nominal %): V2mag/I2mag (sec/pri)
Time pick-up: T2

.
.
.

Setting-n
Freq. range: Fnmin-Fnmax
Mag. pick-up (nominal %): Vnmag/Inmag (sec/pri)
Time pick-up: Tn

Fig. 4. Proposed Protection Logic

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As described in the above sections, development of protection settings require understanding of the
nature of SSO associated with windfarms/series compensated systems and practical aspects/limitations
associated with sub-harmonics. In this paper, applicability of the numerical sub-harmonic protection
relay presented in [9] was investigated. This relay is capable of operating based on the current and the
voltage sub-harmonics defined between a range of frequencies with magnitude and time delay settings.
Figure 4 shows a generic protection logic that can be proposed for SSO protection. The inputs to the
protection logic are voltage or current measurements with n - number of settings, combined into an
OR logic. The logic output is used to trip the windfarm or by-pass the series capacitor or any other
control action.

It should be noted the aforementioned sub-harmonic relay has been developed with more features and
it could be used in different ways to provide the protection against the specific SSO problem discussed
here. In addition, this relay can also be used to provide the protection against wide range of SSO
applications which are not discussed here. However, the protection logic proposed in this paper
provides the flexibility for user to select the settings based on the limited information available from
system studies to achieve desirable performances. This logic can even be used without any
information available from system studies to satisfy basic protection requirements.

Primary Sub-harmonic Protection: Current Signal Detectors

As explained above, line current measurements can be typically used as primary (fast) protection.
Considering the nature of current sub-harmonics, three or four settings combinations (n=3 or 4) with
inverse characteristics (shorter time delays for higher magnitudes and vice versa) would provide
adequate protection. The frequency settings can be a single narrow band frequency, a combination
multiple narrow band frequencies or a single wider band frequency, depending on the SSO modes
available. Sub-harmonic current magnitudes above 4-5% of nominal would be considered as a
possible SSO condition that needs attention. The minimum time delay allowed would be typically ~
0.2 sec. for correct differentiation of stable (damped) SSO conditions created during transmission line
faults and other switching events observed on current signals.

Secondary Sub-harmonic Protection: Voltage Signal Detectors

Secondary (slow) protection can be provided with voltage measurements. Considering the nature of
voltage sub-harmonics, one or two settings combinations (n=1 or 2) with inverse characteristics would
be sufficient. The frequency settings for voltage detectors would be defined similar to current
detectors. Sub-harmonic voltage magnitudes above 4-5% of nominal would be considered as a
possible SSO condition that needs attention. The minimum time delay allowed would be typically ~
0.5 sec. for correct differentiation of stable SSO conditions created during CVT transients and other
switching events observed on voltage signals.

Although the current sub-harmonics and the voltage sub-harmonics have been used as primary and
secondary respectively, readers should be aware that depending on the availability of sensors (CTs,
CVTS / PTs or both), user will have an option to select one detection method or a combination of
both.

EXAMPLE CASE STUDIES

In order to understand the applicability of the aforementioned protection logic for different protection
application scenarios, consider the following case studies. All cases studies are related to an
application of a sub-harmonic relay installed on a 60 Hz single circuit series compensated transmission
line in which a Type-III windfarm is installed in the vicinity. System study results available for these
application cases are different and one application case has no information available from a system
study. Protection settings are defined based on the available information. For all setting examples, the
current detectors are defined with four stages whereas, the voltage detectors are defined with two

5
stages. Frequency band settings are determined with ±3Hz error margin rounded off to 5 Hz
resolutions.

Case-1

SSO Modes Available: ~13 Hz.

For this scenario, calculated frequency band is 10-16 Hz. This is approximated to 10-20 Hz range
based on above 5 Hz criterion. The current detector settings were set 5%, 10%, 20% and 40% with
time delays 0.5s, 0.4s, 0.3s and 0.2s respectively. The voltage detector settings were set 5% and
10with time delays 1.0 s and 0.5s respectively.

 Current detector-1 (n=4)

o 10-20 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Voltage detector-1 (n=2)
o 10-20 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec

Case-2

SSO Modes Available: ~14 Hz and ~ 47 Hz.

For this scenario, calculated frequency bands are 11-18 Hz and 44-50 Hz. They are approximated to
10-20 Hz range and 40-50 Hz range based on above 5 Hz criterion. Settings can be provided with two
narrow bands of frequencies (option-1) or one wide band frequency (option-2). Option-1 will provide
more selective frequency detection compared to option-2. Since decisions are based on frequencies
and magnitudes, both options will provide required protection for windfarms and series compensated
lines

Option-1
 Current detector-1 (n=4)
o 10-20 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Current detector-2 (n=4)
o 40-50 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 40-50 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec
o 40-50 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 40-50 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Voltage detector-1 (n=2)
o 10-20 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 10-20 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec
 Voltage detector-2 (n=2)
o 40-50 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 40-50 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec

Option-2
 Current detector-1 (n=4)
o 10-50 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 10-50 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec

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 o 10-50 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 10-50 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Voltage detector-1 (n=2)
o 10-50 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 10-50 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec

Case-3

SSO Modes Available: ~28 Hz and ~ 33 Hz.

For this scenario, calculated frequency bands are 25-31 Hz and 30-36 Hz. They are approximated to
25-35 Hz range and 30-40 Hz range based on above 5 Hz criterion. Since there is an overlap of
frequency, it is more appropriate to define the settings with one wider band of 25-40 Hz.

 Current detector-1 (n=4)

o 25-40 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 25-40 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec
o 25-40 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 25-40 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Voltage detector-1 (n=2)
o 25-40 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 25-40 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec

Case-4

SSO Modes Available: unknown

Since there is no data available regarding the SSO modes, full range of frequency (i.e. 5-55 Hz) can be
used due the following reasons:
-Decisions are made based on both frequency and magnitudes.
-For a stable/healthy power system, sub-harmonic components with higher magnitudes may not be
possible.

 Current detector-1 (n=4)

o 5-55 Hz, 5%, 0.5 sec
o 5-55 Hz, 10%, 0.4 sec
o 5-55 Hz, 20%, 0.3 sec
o 5-55 Hz, 40%, 0.2 sec
 Voltage detector-1 (n=2)
o 5-55 Hz, 5%, 1.0 sec
o 5-55 Hz, 10%, 0.5 sec

Special Considerations

 During black start conditions, it is recommended to block the relay completely to avoid mal-
operations. It should be noted that during such conditions, series capacitor and windfarms
could be out of service as per the protection requirements.
 The double circuit, mutually coupled series compensated transmission lines require extra time
delay of ~ 0.2 sec for all current detectors to avoid possible mis-operations due the events on
the adjacent lines.
 If accurate information/data is available, settings (including frequency settings limits) could be
optimized based on the results from detailed EMT-type simulations. In such situations,
COMTRADE waveforms generated using the EMT-type simulation programs are
recommended.

7
TEST RESULTS

In order to investigate the usefulness of the proposed protection logic in situations where information
from a system study is not available, field recorded waveform captured by a DFR was injected into the
sub-harmonic relay using a real time playback system with the basic settings provided in above Case-
4. Figure-5 shows the oscillography captured by the relay. As it can be observed from the results, the
trip time of the relay is around 0.5s.

Fig. 5. Operation of the relay

The sub-harmonic spectrums of the current and the voltage signals observed by the relay are shown in
Figure-6 and 7. As it can be observed, dominant sub-harmonic is around 25 Hz.

8
Fig. 6. Sub-harmonic spectum of current signals

Fig. 7. Sub-harmonic spectum of voltage signals

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CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, applicability of a numerical sub-harmonic protection relay to provide the protection
against SSO conditions associated with interactions of Type-III windfarms and series compensated
system was investigated. A brief overview on the nature of sub-harmonics and the key challenges in
using numerical relay to provide the protection against SSO were discussed. A protection setting
structure that provides the flexibility for user to select basic setting, even during the situations where
limited information or no information is available from system studies was proposed. Applicability of
the proposed setting structure was verified using the field recoded waveforms obtained from a digital
fault recorder. Test results confirm that the investigated relay is capable of providing adequate
protection against SSO conditions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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19th – 21st, 2010.
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[8] NERC, “Special Assessment Interconnection Requirements for Variable Generation”,
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[9] K. Narendra, D. Fedirchuk, R. Midence, N. Zhang, A. Mulawarman, P. Mysore and V. Sood.
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