Method for distributed generation anti-islanding protection based on singular value decomposition and linear discrimination analysis

•This paper proposes an algorithm to detect unintentional islanding in power systems with distributed generation.•It is based on the singular value decomposition and linear discrimination analysis.•It differentiates frequency oscillations in synchronous generators caused by islanding from those caused by non-islanding events.

Anti-islanding protection is one of the most important requirements for the connection of distributed generators in power systems. This paper proposes an algorithm to detect unintentional islanding in power systems with distributed generation. It is based on the singular value decomposition and linear discrimination analysis to differentiate frequency oscillations in synchronous generators caused by islanding from those caused by non-islanding events. The algorithm requires a very low number of mathematical operations, which is suitable for relay purposes. This is possible because most of the operations are in the training process and are made off-line. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated for different scenarios and load conditions in IEEE 34 Node Test Feeder. The algorithm is able to detect islanding with active power mismatch of 1.6% of DG nominal power. The pattern recognition also prevents undue tripping, ensuring great robustness for the method.