A novel VSC-HVDC protection and fault location scheme based on distributed current sensing technology

To accommodate the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources and enable bulk power transmission, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology has been widely deployed worldwide and is expected to continue expanding in the coming decades. Voltage Source Converter-based HVDC (VSC-HVDC) offers notable advantages, particularly in weak grid conditions and provides enhanced flexibility in power control. However, the protection of VSC-HVDC systems remains challenging due to strict requirements for fast protection operation and the absence of reliable fault location methods. This paper presents a novel approach for faulty section identification and accurate fault location estimation using distributed optical current sensing. The method’s performance is validated through case studies in MATLAB/SIMULINK and compared against a conventional double-ended travelling wave protection scheme. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can reliably identify the faulted segment and estimate the fault location with improved accuracy, while reducing the requirements for sampling frequency and measurement synchronisation compared to traditional double-ended travelling wave-based approaches. Therefore, it provides a promising method to protect the VSC-HVDC networks with an additional benefit of accurate estimation of the fault position.