Computational Intelligence based techniques for islanding detection of distributed generation in distribution network: A review

•Unintentional and intentional islanding, their causes, and solutions are presented.•Remote, passive, active and hybrid islanding detection techniques are discussed.•The limitation of these techniques in accurately detect islanding are discussed.•Computational intelligence techniques ability in detecting islanding is discussed.•Review of ANN, fuzzy logic control, ANFIS, Decision tree techniques is provided.

Accurate and fast islanding detection of distributed generation is highly important for its successful operation in distribution networks. Up to now, various islanding detection technique based on communication, passive, active and hybrid methods have been proposed. However, each technique suffers from certain demerits that cause inaccuracies in islanding detection. Computational intelligence based techniques, due to their robustness and flexibility in dealing with complex nonlinear systems, is an option that might solve this problem. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of computational intelligence based techniques applied for islanding detection of distributed generation. Moreover, the paper compares the accuracies of computational intelligence based techniques over existing techniques to provide a handful of information for industries and utility researchers to determine the best method for their respective system.