Fault Evaluation and Performance of an 
 IEEE Bus 30 Power Distribution Network  
with Distributed Generation (DG) 
Angeles, C.J1,  Mercader, E.J.2, Tan, G.E3, Pacis, M.C.4, Bersano Jr. R.F.5 
 
 
4mikeinmars@yahoo.com 
School of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering 
Mapua University1,2,3,4 
Intramuros, Manila, Philippines 
Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology5 
Iligan City, Philippines 
 
 
 
 
 
Abstract—Due to the penetration of Renewable energy 
to  the  power  system  which  is  inevitable,  the  power 
system will experience a drastic change, not only in its 
performance  but  also  on  the  protective  settings  of 
relays.  Thus,  characterization  of  faults  is  necessary  to 
determine the settings of the protective devices. In this 
paper,  Fault  Characterization  studies  are  used  to 
determine the performance and the fault values of all of 
the busses of the power system but with the impact of 
Distributed generation (DG). An IEEE Bus 30 system 
is  a  good  selection  of  power  system  test  case  since  it 
can be easily penetrated by a DG and can be connected 
as a mesh network. System performance during steady 
state and transient state is analyzed using the ETAP 6.0 
software. A thorough investigation is needed so that the 
researchers  can  analyze  the  effect  of  DG's  in  the 
protection scheme of the relay settings, circuit breaker 
selection  and  protective  device  coordination.  The 
simulation of results indicates that penetration of DG’s 
in  the  network  affects  the  fault  current  nevertheless 
where 
fault  current 
contribution depends on the location of the fault point 
to  the  penetrated  DG  in  the  system.  Based  from  the 
graph  of  the  DG  contribution  for  different  fault 
locations,  the  DG  contributes  the  most  fault  current 
when  the  fault  occurs  connected  at  their  respective 
busses. When the fault occurs at bus 29, DG 11 has the 
least  contribution  since  it  is  far  away  from  the  fault 
point.  In  the  summary  of  fault  percentages,  the 
researchers may say that the worst case of fault current 
occurs at Case 17  where Gen 2, Gen5 and Gen13 are 
removed in the system. 
 
Index Terms IEEE Bus 30 system, Distributed 
Generation, Fault Characterization, ETAP 
 
fault  occurs.  But 
the 
the 
I.  INTRODUCTION 
Distributed generation plays a vast part in our power 
system. As the demand of electric energy demand goes 
978-1-5386-0912-5/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE 
to 
these 
fulfill 
vague, there is a significant increase of distributed 
generation 
necessities. 
Interconnection of DG on power system will give a 
huge  advantage  on  power  generation  on  remote 
areas and will give additional benefits on the grid, 
distribution  and  to  the  supply.  Due  to  carbon 
dioxide  reduction  goals,  many  of  small  sources  of 
DG  are  renewable  energy  sources  such  as  wind 
turbines, biomass, solar panels, micro turbines etc. 
Large scale integration of DG at MV and LV side 
of  the  system  is  presented  to  cover  the  supply  of 
some  loads.      The  problem  to  be  solved  in  this 
study is the effect of the high penetration of DG’s 
in  the  performance  of  the  protective  devices  in  a 
distribution/sub transmission network connected as 
a  mesh  or  loop.  The  performance  of  these  relay 
settings plays a vital role in the selection of a new 
protective  scheme  of  the  power  system  with  the 
inclusion  of  DG.  The  introduction  of  DG’s  in  the 
distribution 
of 
disadvantages  on 
the  operation,  stability  and 
protection.  The  change  of  fault  current  because  of 
this additional source will create problems such as 
false  tripping,  out  of  synchronism  problems  and 
increase  and  decrease  short  circuit  levels  [1].  The 
penetration  of  DG  will  have  a  huge  impact  on 
controls,  voltage  collapse,  and  protection.  The 
significance  of  this  study  will  help  to  identify 
related  problems  in  the  power  system  and  will 
minimize these issues using the proposed strategies 
from the results of this study. 
 
system  will 
plenty 
have 
II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 
I. Traditional Concepts of Power Systems  
   Generation of electricity was a complex process, 
from  power  plants  to  transmission  and  utilization, 
these  processes  is  a  long  way  step  for  the 
production  of 
[2,3].  Distribution 
electricity 
in  radial  where 
Networks  are  usually  connected 
majority  of  consumers  are  connected.  In  the  radial 
connections, the flow of power will be in one direction, 
from  the  power  source  which  is  your  source,  to  the 
transmission and to the distribution. The first process is 
the  generation  stage,  these  are  your  power  plants 
located  remotely  from  the  city  because  of  economics 
and  environmental  concerns.  Through  the  second 
process, with the help of substations, transmission lines 
and  cables,  the  transmission  of  electrical  energy  from 
longer distances  was executed. The last process is the 
distribution  systems,  the  links  between  the  secondary 
transmission  to  primary  distribution  and  where  the 
power  quality  of  the  system  takes  place  [3].    Due  to 
increasing  demand  of  electrical  energy  in  the  society, 
electrical source should also increase. Thus, penetration 
of  distributed  generation 
this 
economical  problem.    Nowadays,  the  technological 
evolution, environmental policies, the expansion of the 
finance  and  electrical  markets,  are  promoting  new 
conditions  in  the  sector  of  the  electricity  generation. 
[4,5]. 
is  a  solution 
to 
 III. METHODOLOGY 
     The step by step procedure of the study is given on 
Figure 1.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1. Flowchart of the study 
Test System 
the  study 
framework  of 
The  conceptual 
is 
presented on Figure 1.Using the data from [13], the 
IEEE  30  bus  system  is  designed  using  the  ETAP 
software.  The  bus  system  is  a  prototype,  and  real 
time  systems  are  designed  and  developed  with 
reference to such prototype models. The prototypes 
are  subjected  to  contingency  analysis  and  results 
were obtained. The load flow analysis and transient 
stability  for  the  standard  IEEE-30  bus  system  are 
performed.  The  standard  IEEE  30  bus  system 
consists of 30 buses, 6 generators, 24 loads and 4 
transformers. Generator1 is the swing bus and the 
other  generators  are  in  voltage  control  mode.  The 
generators  are  rated  135kV,  with  speed  1800  rpm 
and with 4 poles.  All of the loads in service are 3- 
phase and with rated voltage of 135kV. The unit of 
the  lines  have  impedances  in  ohms  per  kilometer 
and the transformers are connected in 3-phase with 
rated voltage  of 135 kV-140kV.  
Software Used 
  The simulation software used here is the ETAP or 
Electrical Transient Stability Analysis Program by 
Operation Technology. There are different kinds of 
analysis that can be performed using this software 
such as Load flow analysis, Short Circuit Analysis, 
Arc  Flash  analysis,  Harmonic  Analysis  and 
Transient stability analysis.  The one line diagram 
for IEEE-30 bus system is drawn using the one line 
editor. ETAP is a user friendly graphical electrical 
analysis software that can be run on Windows XP 
and Microsoft Vista operating systems. The results 
of the analysis on the prototype models is used for 
real 
time  simulation,  optimization,  advanced 
monitoring  and  intelligent  load  shedding  at  high 
speeds.  ETAP  allows 
to  perform 
operations  like  varying  the  loads,  allowing  the 
system to contingency and study the characteristics 
of the faults. These virtual faults in the simulation 
model  can  be  compared  to  the  real  time  system 
faults 
[6].  The  Single  Line  Diagram  was 
constructed using the ETAP software. 
the  user 
Load Flow Analysis and Short Circuit Analysis 
   Load  flow  analysis  also  called  as  power  flow 
analysis  is  an  important  tool  for  performance 
analysis  of  a  power  system.  The  basic  knowledge 
required to perform load flow analysis of a system 
is  to  understand  the  one  line  diagram  and  the 
representation  of  the  components  of  the  power 
system in its per unit values. 
    Based on Table 1, 17 cases were presented with the 
results  of  load  flow  and  comprehensive  short  circuit 
study.  Fault  Studies  was  limited  to  shunt  faults  only 
and the comparison for all the cases will be discussed 
on Section IV.    
Table 1.  Power System Cases 
Case 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
 
Configurations 
 
No DG 
DG 11 Out 
DG 12 Out 
DG 29 Out 
DG 30 Out 
Gen 13 Out 
Gen 11 Out 
Gen 5 Out 
Line 27 out 
Line 41 out 
No Swing Bus 
DG 11 and DG 12 Out 
DG 12 and Dg 29 Out 
DG 29 and DG 30 Out 
DG 30 and DG 11 Out 
Swing Bus and Gen 8 Out 
Gen 2, 5, and 13 Out 
Data Gathering: 
Computation of the DG’s rating. According to  [7] 
Pmax =   ….. (1) 
Qmax =  x Pmax …… (2) 
  It  is  assume  that  the  maximum  production  gives  the 
highest  voltage  rise.  The  reactive  power  at  maximum 
production is a certain fraction of the active power as 
seen on eq (2).  
   Based  on  the  computation  of  the  DG  ratings,  the 
researchers used a 1000m length with a cross sectional 
area  of  50  square  millimeters  as  their  base  length 
because  the  computed  power  rating  was  close  to  the 
ratings for the modeled IEEE Bus 30 system [8,9]. 
 
 
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
    After  modeling  the  IEEE  Bus  30  system,  the 
researcher has to compare if the bus voltage result 
of  the  modeled  power  system  is  approximately 
equal to the IEEE bus 30 system. Using equation 3, 
the  voltage  error  was  computed  and  compared  to 
the reference. 
%error  = 
    %diff  =
  ……….(3) 
- ……(4) 
     Based on  Table  2,  the  Vref  is  the  value  of  the 
reference while Vlf is the value of the voltage from 
the  ETAP  simulation.  The  load  flow  result  of  the 
modeled power system was reasonable because the 
voltage difference did not exceed the 5% marginal 
error.    After  obtaining  the  load  flow  data,  the 
researcher  performs  the  short  circuit  analysis. 
Using  ETAP,  the  3-Phase  fault,  MCR  and  KAIC 
ratings  were  obtained  using  3-phase  device  duty 
(ANSI C37). MAX 1/2 cycle was used for getting 
the  3phase,  SLG,  LL,  and  DLG  faults.  The 
%difference formula was used in the fault average 
magnitude as well as the phase angle average with 
respect to Case I or NO DG. The 100% in the rows 
of  Table  4  and  5  refers  to  the  reference  value  or 
base case. 
          Based  on  Table  3,  shows  the  average  fault 
current  magnitude  with  respect  to  the  base  case. 
The maximum increase of the 3 Phase, Single Line 
to Ground Fault and Double Line to Ground Fault 
occurs at Case 17 where Gen 2, Gen5 and Gen13 
are  removed  in  the  system.  For  the  minimum 
decrease  of  3  Phase  fault,  Single  Line  to  Ground 
fault and Line to Line fault occurs at Case 2 where 
DG 11 is removed from the system, for the Double 
Line  to  Ground  fault  it  occurs  at  Case  10  where 
Line  41  is  out  from  the  system.    According  to 
Table  5,  shows  the  average  fault  current  phase 
magnitude  with  respect  to  the  base  case.  The  3 
phase  fault  phase  angle  with  highest  percentage 
increase occurs at Case 9  where Line 27 is out in 
the system, it also occurs in Case 9 for the Single 
Line to Ground fault phase angle.  
 
 
Table 2. % Fault Current Average Magnitude with respect to NO DG 
Table 3. % Phase Angle Average with respect to NO DG 
% Phase Angle Average with respect to NO DG 
Configurations 
3 Phase 
Cas
e 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
% Fault Current Average Magnitude with respect to NO DG 
 
No DG 
Configurations 
Case 
1 
DG 11 Out 
2 
DG 12 Out 
3 
DG 29 Out 
4 
DG 30 Out 
5 
Gen 13 Out 
6 
Gen 11 Out 
7 
Gen 5 Out 
8 
Line 27 out 
9 
10 
Line 41 out 
11  No Swing Bus 
 
3Phase 
100 
82.274 
89.924 
89.44 
89.412 
98.123 
92.795 
92.974 
89.543 
91.793 
99.646 
SLG 
100 
91.985 
93.113 
92.789 
92.722 
106.76 
98.256 
97.343 
93.833 
96.182 
102.7 
LL 
100 
88.276 
89.922 
89.443 
89.415 
98.34 
92.799 
92.977 
89.543 
91.794 
99.631 
DLG 
100 
89.376 
90.9 
90.694 
90.684 
100.149 
94.548 
94.382 
90.906 
80.757 
101.191 
DG 11 and 
DG 12 Out 
DG 12 and 
DG 29 Ou 
DG 29 and 
DG 30 Out 
DG 30 and 
DG 11 Out 
Swing Bus 
and Gen 8 Out 
Gen 2, 5, and 
13 Out 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
 
91.287 
94.042 
91.29 
92.055 
92.443 
94.839 
92.446 
93.365 
95.382 
112.72 
95.385 
96.111 
90.683 
93.383 
90.715 
91.789 
108.57 
114.08 
108.57 
109.773 
112.67 
117.93 
112.534 
114.306 
 
      Based  on  Figure  2,  it  shows  that  Bus  12  has  the 
highest 3-phase fault currents followed by Bus 11. The 
3-phase  fault  currents  on  Bus  11  and  12  were  greatly 
affected  by  the  DG  connected  to  them.  The  graph 
shows  that  each  selected  bus  increased  their  3-phase 
fault  current  as  the  DG  11  was  removed.  Based  on 
Figure  3,  it  is  shown  that  busses  without  DG  (remote 
bus)  has  the  minimal  fault  current  compare  to  busses 
with  DG’s but Bus 12  was still greatly affected  when 
DG11  was out. It also shows that Bus 29 and Bus 30 
have almost the  same fault current in all cases except 
for no DG connected to them. Based on Figure 4 and 5, 
it shows that the DLG Fault Currents in kA. DLG Fault 
currents have the highest fault currents among all other 
fault currents. Bus 12 still has the highest fault current 
when DG 11 was out but Bus 11 has the highest fault 
current when all DG was connected. The other busses 
remain at low fault kA. 
 
 
No DG 
DG 11 Out 
DG 12 Out 
DG 29 Out 
DG 30 Out 
Gen 13 Out 
Gen 11 Out 
Gen 5 Out 
Line 27 out 
SLG 
100 
100.48
2 
100.20
2 
100.37
3 
100 
100.54
7 
100.12
1 
100.47
8 
100.49
100.37
100.09
100.13
3 
6 
5 
4 
6 
8 
4 
7 
100.62
3 
100.54
1 
100.45 
97.94 
100.47
9 
100.5
5 
100.97
100.89
100.74
100.64
100.22
9 
100.12
2 
100.03 
100.53
6 
100.25 
100.20
100.08
5 
1 
10 
Line 41 out 
11  No Swing Bus 
DG 11 and DG 
DG 12 and Dg 
12 Out 
29 Out 
30 Out 
DG 29 and DG 
90.326 
98.05 
DG 30 and DG 
11 Out 
100.49 
80.353 
98.95 
Swing Bus and 
Gen 8 Out 
100.31
2 
93.619 
102.9
1 
LL 
100 
99.28 
100.7
1 
99.34 
99.15 
99.88 
98.23 
98.4 
103.3
2 
100.5
1 
100.8
2 
DLG 
100 
-
34.8
6 
-
29.2
6 
-
11.3
4 
-
12.0
2 
-53.2 
-
25.9
8 
-
34.4
8 
-
33.8
7 
12.1
9 
-
25.7
3 
-
22.8
4 
9.36 
35.5
3 
-
12.3
2 
-
32.5
5 
-
37.3
4 
Gen 2, 5, and 
13 Out 
99.573 
99.445 
105.3
2 
 
researchers  used  a  Simple  Linear 
       The 
Regression as the statistical method for generating 
a  function  for  base  case  and  other  configurations. 
Based on Figure 6,  taking  X axis as the base case 
(Case  1)  and  Y  axis  as 
test  case  for 
configuration (Case 2, 3, 4, and so on). The sample 
curve is for the 3 Phase Fault at case 2 where DG 
11 is removed from the system. The importance of 
using  Simple  Linear  Regression 
to  generate 
equations for all types of fault current and will be 
vital in the speeding up the process in determining 
the relay settings for adaptive protection.   
the 
  
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
 
NO DG
DG 11 OUT
DG ALL
NO SWING
DG 11 & 12
out
GEN 2,5 and
13 OUT
Bus 4 Bus 6 Bus
11
Bus
12
Bus
15
Bus
28
Bus
29
Bus
30
 
Figure 4. Single  Line to Ground  Fault Currents  
on Every Node in KA 
 
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
NO DG
DG 11 OUT
DG ALL
NO SWING
DG 11 & 12 out
GEN 2,5 and 13 OUT
 
Bus 4 Bus 6 Bus
11
Bus
12
Bus
15
Bus
28
Bus
29
Bus
30
Figure 5. Double Line to Ground  Fault Currents  
on Every Node in KA 
   Figure  7  shows  the  contribution  of  the  four  DGs  in 
the 3 phase fault current of the system. It shows that the 
DG  contributes  the  most  fault  current  when  the  fault 
occurs at  their respective busses. When  faulted at bus 
29,  DG  11  has  the  least  contribution  of  fault  current 
because  the  bus  where  DG  11  was  connected  is  far 
away from the fault point.  
 
      
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
Bus
4
Bus
6
Bus
11
Bus
12
Bus
15
Bus
28
Bus
29
Bus
30
NO DG
DG 11 OUT
DG ALL
NO SWING
DG 11 & 12
out
GEN 2,5 and
13 OUT
Figure 2. 3 Phase Fault Currents  on Every Node in 
KA 
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
NO DG
DG 11 OUT
DG ALL
NO SWING
DG 11 & 12 out
GEN 2,5 and 13
OUT
Bus 4 Bus 6 Bus
11
Bus
12
Bus
15
Bus
28
Bus
29
Bus
30
Figure 3. Line to Line  Fault Currents  on Every Node 
in KA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 6. Simple Linear Regression 
 
VI. REFERENCES 
 [1]  Yuping  Lu,  L.  H.  (2007).  A  Study  on  Effect  of 
Dispersed  Generator  Capacity  on  Power  System 
Protection. IEEE 
[2]  Angel  Fernandez  Sarabia,  “Impact  of  distributed 
generation on distributied system”, Aalborg University - 
Department  of  Energy  Technology  Pontoppidanstraede 
101 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark Printed in Denmark by 
Aalborg University 
[3] Mario Vignolo, R. Z. (2002). Transmission Networks 
or Distributed Generation?. Montevideo, Uruguay 
[4]  Philip  P.  Barker,  R.  W.  (2000).  Determining  the 
Impact  of  Distributed  Generation  on  Power  Systems: 
Part  1  -  Radial  Distribution  Systems.  12.  IEEE. 
Retrieved 02 16, 2011, from IEEE. 
[5]  Edward  Coster,  Stedin,  Johanna  Myrzik  and  Wil 
Kling  Eindhoven  University  of  Technology  The 
Netherlands  “Effect  of  DG  on  distribution  grid 
protection” 
[6]  Stanley  Horowitz  and  Arun  Phadke  “Power  System 
Relaying” 3rd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 2008 
[7] Math H. Bollen,Fainan Hassan.(2011), Integration of 
Distributed Generation in the Power System 
[8]  William  Rosehart  ,  Ed  Nowicki  (24-28  June  2002).  
Optical Placement of Distributed Generation, University 
of Calgary 
[9] R.M. Kamel1 and B. Kermanshahi, Optimal Size and 
Location  of  Distributed  Generations  for  Minimizing 
Power  Losses  in  a  Primary  Distribution  Network, 
December 2009, Sharif University of Technology 
 
30
29
28
15
12
11
6
4
DG 30
DG 29
DG 12
DG 11
 
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Figure  7.  DG  Contribution  For  Different  Fault 
Locations [3 phase DG ALL] 
 
V. CONCLUSIONS 
     In  this  study,  the  system  was  modeled  by  the 
computer design software called ETAP. After modeling 
the IEEE Bus 30 system, the researcher compares the 
bus voltage results of the modeled power system to the 
IEEE  bus  30  system.  Based  on  the  results,  the  load 
flow  result  of 
the  modeled  power  system  was 
reasonable  because  the  voltage  difference  did  not 
exceed the 5% marginal error.  There were 17 different 
cases  that  were  developed  in  this  study  and  based  on 
the  simulation  results,  the  penetration  of  DG’s  in  a 
system affects the fault current nevertheless where the 
fault occurs. But the fault current contribution depends 
on the location of the fault point to the penetrated DG 
in the system. Based on the graph of DG contribution 
for  different  fault  locations,  the  DG  contributes  the 
most  fault  current  when  the  fault  occurs  connected  at 
their  respective  busses.  When  the  fault  occurs  at  bus 
29,  DG’s  11  has  the  least  contribution  since  it  is  far 
away  from  the  fault  point.  The  graphs  and  curves  of 
different  cases  show 
the 
performance of the system given that case 1 as base. In 
the  summary  of  fault  percentages,  the  researchers 
conclude that the worst case of fault current occurs at 
Case 17 where Gen 2, Gen5 and Gen13 are removed in 
the  system  and  the  best  case  for  the  3  phase  fault, 
single line to ground fault, line to line fault it occurs at 
Case 2 where DG 11 is removed from the system, for 
the  double  line  to  ground  fault  it  occurs  at  Case  10 
where Line 41 is out from the system. 
the  drastic  change  of