Fault Location Approach to Distribution Networks Based on Custom State Estimator

This paper presents a properly designed branchcurrent based state estimator(BCBSE)used as the main core ofan accurate fault location approach(FLA)devoted to distribution networks.Contrary to the approaches available in the literature,it uses only a limited set of conventional measurementsobtained from smart meters to accurately locate faults at busesor branches without requiring measurements provided by phasor measurement units(PMUs).This is possible due to themethods used to model the angular reference and the faultedbus,in addition to the proper choice of the weights in the stateestimator(SE).The proposed approach is based on a searchingprocedure composed of up to three stages:①the identificationof the faulted zones;②the identification of the bus closest tothe fault;and③the location of the fault itself,searching onbranches connected to the bus closest to the fault.Furthermore,this paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the proposedapproach,even considering the presence of distributed generation,and a sensitivity study on the proper weights required bythe SE for fault location purposes,which can not be found inthe literature.Results show that the proposed BCBSE-basedFLA is robust,accurate,and aligned with the requirements ofthe traditional and active distribution networks.