2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica
The Basics of Transmission Line Protection
Nathan O. Mogaru, P.E.
Shermco Industries Inc.
Irving, Texas, USA
nmogaru@shermco.com
Abstract—Transmission line protection schemes have evolved
over the years. Direct connection of instrument transformer
secondary wires to protection relays was mostly applicable to
short transmission lines. In medium to long haul transmission
lines this scheme was not feasible due to line signal attenuation
caused by increased line impedance among other factors.
Technological advances have provided unique solutions that have
been deployed in a variety of transmission lines from short to long
haul lines. This paper discusses how the use of microprocessor
based protection relays and modern digital communication
technologies have simplified transmission line protection. The
paper also discusses line current differential and distance
relaying schemes as applied to transmission line protection.
Communication assisted tripping schemes will also be discussed
and how they apply to distance relaying schemes.
Index Terms--Transmission lines, digital signal processing (DSP),
current transformer (CT), potential transformer (PT), distance
relays, redundancy, communication channel, microprocessor.
I. INTRODUCTION
A transmission line requires adequate protection in order to
reliably transport electrical power from stations to consumers.
Modern technological advances have provided protection
engineers with unique tools to balance between protection
sensitivity and security. Differential protection once
considered to only apply to transformers and buses has seen
widespread application in transmission lines. One major caveat
for differential protection is that it requires a reliable
communication path between the local and the remote end
relays. Section II provides further analysis of differential
protection scheme. Distance relaying protection schemes have
been around for a long time and still maintain significant
footprint in transmission line protection. However, distance
elements are mostly suited to detecting high-current low-
resistance faults and typically set to overreach remote
terminals [1] which often cause coordination issues especially
when fast fault clearing is desired. Section III discuses distance
relaying and communication assisted tripping schemes.
II. DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
Differential protection is based on the Kirchhoff’s current
law which states that the sum of currents into and out of a node
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is zero. This protection scheme provides sensitive and
inherently selective protection of overhead lines and cables.
Additionally, it is immune to changing system conditions like
weak infeed, series compensation, power swings, and
nonstandard short circuit current sources [1].
The application of differential protection to transmission
lines has been plagued by limitation of line lengths. For
example, a transformer differential scheme may have CTs
mounted on the high side and low side of the bushings.
Secondary wiring will either be routed to a relay in the
transformer cabinet (about 10 feet away) or in a nearby
substation protection house (about 50 feet away). This
approach is not practical for transmission lines because of
distance between the local and remote relays which are usually
miles apart. Recent technological advances that utilize a
dedicated digital communication channel to provide a reliable
path through which the local and remote relays send and
receive measured power system data has greatly simplified
deployment of differential protection to transmission lines.
Differential protection is intended to be fast acting to clear
internal faults while maintaining system security by
discriminating against external faults. However, to meet these
critical benchmarks, the entire protection system (protection
relays, instrument transformers, control power, etc.) must be
thoroughly analyzed to determine its robustness.
In recent years, manufacturers have greatly improved
reliability of microprocessor based protection relays which
were once considered the weakest point of failure. Control
power is typically not a concern because in most cases the
control power is provided with multiple layers of redundancy.
Provision of a reliable digital communication channel is a
major wildcard because of several limitations one of them
being cost especially for long transmission lines.
A. A simple two terminal differential protection scheme
A simplified two terminal transmission line can be
considered as one that has a single breaker, instrument
transformers, and a protection relay at each terminal. Each relay
is directly connected to instrument transformers at its terminal
and transmits measured power system data to the other relay
over a digital communication channel.
2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica

unintended misoperation, a differential relay calculates a

restraint current which is typically a function of the total
current flowing through the line as seen by the local and the
remote relays. The main purpose of the restraint current is to
provide a counterbalance against differential currents resulting
from normal flow of current through the line. This steady state
differential current can be attributed to CT inaccuracies, CT
saturation, system transients, and more.

Restraint current, i RES k( IL  IR ) (3)

where k is typically a constant

The operate current must be greater than a percentage of the
restraint current [3].
Figure 1. Simplified representation of a two terminal differential protection
scheme [2]
Operate current, iOP ! k * i (4)
1 RES
The relays can be configured to operate either in master or
remote mode. A relay operating in master mode, receives where k1 is a slope
current information from the other relays, performs all According to (4), the operate current increases with the
necessary differential calculation and makes necessary increase of the restraint current thereby resulting in a sloped
tripping and restraint decisions. On the other hand, a relay operating curve. In order to achieve sensitivity without
operating in remote mode only sends its local current to the sacrificing security, most relays provide an 87L element with
remote relay but does not receive any current information from a minimum operating current (IMIN) and a percent restraint
the remote relay and therefore, does not perform any curve or slope as shown in Fig. 2 below.
differential calculations [2].
As shown in Fig. 1, the raw CT input current is passed
through a DSP algorithm where it is sampled, time stamped,
and transmitted over the digital communication channel to the
relay at the remote terminal. The sampling rate varies
depending on the design but typically, the sampling rate is of
high resolution because the sampled signal is used for other
functions like metering, digital fault recording, and more [2].

B. 87L Element Setting

The received current from the remote location is time
aligned and then compared with the local current to generate
the differential current (iDIF) which is then fed to the 87L
element. Simplistically, the value of the calculated differential
current is dependent on whether the fault is within or outside
the differential zone.
From Fig. 1, let relay 1 current = IL and relay 2 current = IR.
Then for an internal fault;
Figure 2. Single slope differential element operating curve
i DIF I I z0 (1)
L R The setting of the minimum operating pickup depends on
the application. The percent slope setting is an adjustable
For an external fault;
quantity which also depends on the application. Most relays
have a dual slope 87L element as shown in Fig. 3. This allows
i DIF I I 0 (2) protection engineers to set the 87L element less sensitive for
L R
low fault currents and more sensitive for high through faults.
As demonstrated in (1) and (2), 87L element provides a
simple but robust degree of protection against internal faults.
However, under certain conditions like very large through
faults, 87L element may calculate a none zero differential
current even when there isn’t an internal fault. To prevent

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2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica
Figure 3. Dual slope differential element operating curve
There are other factors like line charging currents, inline
transformers, tapped lines, and more that should be considered
when setting 87L element. Modern relays have integral
algorithms to compensate for these factors.
C. 87L Redundancy
87L element requires reliable communication path for the
relays to exchange protection data and transfer trips.
Redundancy here refers to the entire protection system from
incoming station AC supply, DC supply, protection relays, and
communication channel.
1) DC Supply: DC supply is comprised of batteries,
charging system, and a distribution system. The main purpose
of the DC supply is to power up the relays and provide control
power for entire protection system. Complete loss of DC
supply can be catastrophic because tripping ability, SCADA
visibility and critical data logging at the least will be lost. The
entire DC supply should be redundant starting from incoming
station AC supply, charging system, battery strings, and DC
distribution.
2) Protection Relays: Protection relays are the brain of
the protection system because they are responsible for
analyzing system data in real time and to make critical
protection decisions at very high time resolution. In most
applications two functionally equivalent but different brands
of relays are used to make a redundant pair. The rationale is
that in an unlikely event that one relay has an inherent
deficiency that can cause a catastrophic failure, the other
relay will likely not experience the same failure and
therefore, will maintain availability of the protection system.
3) Communication Channel: There are multiple options
but direct point to point fiber connection is preferred
communication channel for critical applications. When two
relays are installed at the local and remote stations, it is
imperative that each relay be provided with a dedicated
communication channel. Sharing a single channel will
introduce a single point of failure. Modern relays have
options for integral redundant channels dedicated for the
differential element. Another layer of redundancy in the
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communication path can be achieved by adding a backup
communication channel for each relay. The backup channel
does not need to be point to point fiber, instead it can be any
channel that can support at least 64kbps bandwidth which is
the industry standard for line current differential.
D. Direct Transfer Trips (DTT)
As discussed above, a relay operating in remote mode does
not receive current from other relays. Therefore, the other
relay(s) operating in master mode will issue a DTT to the relay
operating in remote mode to trip its local breaker [3]. If both
relays are operating in master mode, it is unlikely that both
relays will send and receive a DTT for differential faults,
instead the DTT can be reserved for functions like a breaker
failure so that the system is isolated at both ends.
III. DISTANCE RELAYS
Distance relays can be used as backup to 87L elements or
can be applied as the primary protection in transmission lines
where use of line current differential may not be an option due
to cost implication or other design constraints. Distance relays
operate by calculating an apparent impedance of a line and
define the relay’s reach as a percentage of the line’s
impedance. Controlled reach is the key attribute of the distance
relay because it only responds to faults located within its
predetermined reach as set by the user [4]. As an example, a
distance relay utilizing a Mho function uses the measured
current and voltage to determine if the calculated apparent
impedance plots within the Mho characteristics [5]. The
determination is made by comparing the angle between the
operating quantity and the polarizing quantity [5]. If the angle
is less than 90° the fault impedance plots within the
characteristic and that results in an operation [5]. If the angle
is greater than 90° the fault impedance plots outside the
characteristics and that does not result in an operation. Most
modern digital relays utilize a memorized positive-sequence
voltage for polarizing the distance element [4] and this voltage
needs to remain stable during normal and fault conditions.
As shown in Fig. 4, the relays use measured voltage and
current to calculate apparent impedance (5). For simplicity two
forward looking zones are shown and B1 represents a breaker
at terminal 1 while B2 represents a breaker at terminal 2.
Figure 4. Two terminal distance relay setup
2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica

V 2) Terminal 2 Calculations: The only calculations

Z (5) required are line impedance in secondary ohms, Zone 1 reach
I and Zone 2 reach. The calculated line impedance in primary
Where, ohms remains unchanged.
Z = apparent impedance 400
V = Voltage Z line 1.02u 0.34: secondary
1200
I = Current
Zone 1 reach = 0.8 x 0.34 = 0.27 ŸVHFRQGDU\
A. Distance Relay Reach
According to Fig. 4, Zone 1 is under reaching, set to reach =RQHUHDFK [ ŸVHFRQGDU\
about 80% of line impedance and is intended to operate C. Distance Relay Coordination
instantaneously. Zone 2 on the other hand is overreaching, set
The distance relay reach must be properly coordinated in
to reach about 120% of the line impedance and has an
order to achieve reliable and secure power system protection.
intentional time delay for coordination. In order to set a
Additionally, series capacitors traditionally installed to
distance relay’s reach, at a minimum the CT ratio, PT ratio,
increase power transfer capabilities of transmission lines
Transmission line impedance data, and length are required.
introduce system protection complexities to both series
B. Distance Relay Setting Calculation Example compensated lines and adjacent lines [6]. However, it is not the
Assume the transmission line in Fig. 4 is operating at 245kv intent of this paper to delve deep into the analysis of series
with a positive sequence impedance of 0.00073 + j0.00156 on compensation and adjacent lines. The following is an analysis
a 100MVA base. The CT and PT ratio at terminal 1 are 240 how the distance relay responds to faults at different locations.
and 1200 respectively. The CT and PT ratio at terminal 2 are 1) Fault at point “A” per Fig. 4: This fault will be seen
400 and 1200 respectively. Compute the transmission line by zones 1 and 2 of both relays and therefore, each relay’s
impedance in secondary ohms, Zone 1 reach and Zone 2 reach Zone 1 element will clear the fault instantaneously without
for both relays. any intentional time delay.
1) Terminal 1 Calculations 2) Fault at point “B” per Fig. 4: This fault will be seen
Z actual by Relay 1 zone 2 element and both Zone 1 and 2 of Relay 2.
ZB (6) The following will be the expected operation criteria to clear
Z pu this fault:
Where; x Relay 1 Zone 1 element will not see the fault and
Z B = Base impedance at specified MVA base therefore will not operate.
x Relay 1 Zone 2 element will see the fault but will not
Z actual = Actual impedance issue a trip because Zone 2 element must remain
Z pu = Per unit impedance picked up for a preset amount of time before issuing a
trip. Therefore, Relay 1 will clear the fault by initiating
breaker B1 trip after a time delay; for this example, a
2
Z pu ( 0.000732  | j 0.00156 | ) 0.0017 pu 20 cycles delay is assumed.
x Relay 2 Zone 1 element will see the fault and will clear
245KV 2 it by initiating breaker B2 trip without any intentional
ZB 600.25: delay.
100 MVA
Based on this operating criteria, the fault will remain on the
Z actual Z B u Z pu 600.25 u 0.0017 1.02: primary system for a little longer because the time delayed Zone 2
element of Relay 1 does not issue a trip instantaneously.
CTR 3) Fault at point “C” per Fig. 4: This fault is not on
Z line Z actual u (7)
PTR the line because it is behind terminal 2. However, Relay 1
overreaching Zone 2 element will clear this fault after a time
Where Z line = line impedance in secondary ohms delay. However, clearing of faults located external to the zone
of protection is not desirable and one way to mitigate is to use
240 communication assited tripping or pilot schemes so that the
Z line 1.02u 0.2: secondary
1200 relays can exchange information to determine fault location.
D. Communication Assisted Tripping (Pilot) Schemes
=RQHUHDFK [ ŸVHFRQGDU\
Several types of pilot schemes exist in the protection
=RQHUHDFK [ ŸVHFRQGDU\ industry. Some of these include Permissive Overreaching

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2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica
Transfer Trip (POTT), Permissive Underreacting Transfer Trip
(PUTT), Directional Comparison Blocking (DCB),
Directional Comparison Unblocking (DCUB) [7], and more.
Each of these schemes requires the relay at one terminal to
communicate with the relay at the other terminal that it does or
does not see a fault in the forward or reverse direction [7].
1) Permissive Overreaching Transfer Trip: In a POTT
scheme the local Zone 2 overreaching relay element keys
(sends) a permissive tripping logic to the remote relay,
permitting the remote relay to trip its breaker [7]. This mode
of information sharing helps the relays determine if the fault
is within the zone of protection or external to the zone of
protection. If the fault is determined to be within the zone of
protection, the time delayed Zone 2 will be allowed to trip
faster in order to clear the fault.
Fig. 5 is an example of a two terminal transmission line with
the relays at each terminal communicating with each other via
a dedicated communication channel.
Figure 5. Two terminal distance relay setup with a dedicated
communication channel
REFERENCES
[1] S. Hodder, B. Kasztenny and N. Fischer, "Backup considerations for line
current differential protection," 2012 65th Annual Conference for
Protective Relay Engineers, College Station, TX, 2012, pp. 96-107.
[2] H. Miller, J. Burger, N. Fischer and B. Kasztenny, "Modern line current
differential protection solutions," 2010 63rd Annual Conference for
Protective Relay Engineers, College Station, TX, 2010, pp. 1-25.
[3] M. G. Adamiak, G. E. Alexander, Dr. W. Permerlani, “A new approach
to current differential protection for transmission lines”, presented at the
ECONE, Portsmouth, NH, 1998.
[4] E. O. Schweitzer and B. Kasztenny, "Distance protection: Why have we
started with a circle, does it matter, and what else is out there?" 2018 71st
Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers (CPRE), College
Station, TX, 2018, pp. 1-19.
[5] J. G. Andrichak, G. E. Alexander, “Distance Relay Fundamentals,”
unpublished.
[6] M. M. Saha, T. Einarsson and S. Lidström, "A new adaptive high speed
distance protection scheme for power transmission lines," 13th
International Conference on Development in Power System Protection
2016 (DPSP), Edinburgh, 2016, pp. 1-6.
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A fault at the point marked “A” will be cleared
instantaneously as previously analyzed while a fault at the point
marked “B” will be cleared as follows:
x Relay 2 Zone 1 element will issue a trip signal to
breaker B2 to clear the fault instantaneously
x Relay 1 Zone 2 element will see the fault but will not
operate until it receives a permissive from Relay 2
indicating it sees a fault in its forward direction
x When Relay 1 receives the permissive from Relay 2, its
Zone 2 element will bypass the delay timer and issue a
trip signal to open breaker B1 to clear the fault in far
less delay time than the initially assumed 20 cycles.
Based on this operating criteria, it can be shown that the
fault will be cleared at both terminals much faster thereby
minimizing stress the system endures under faulted conditions.
A fault at the point marked “C”, will not be seen by Zone 1
or Zone 2 of Relay 2. Relay 1 Zone 2 element will see the fault,
pick up and wait for a permissive from Relay 2. Because Relay
2 does not see a forward looking fault, it will not issue a
permissive and therefore, Relay 1 will not trip for this fault.
IV. CONCLUSION
Transmission line protection schemes have evolved over the
years. Traditional protection schemes like distance relays
required proper coordination of protection zones in order to
minimize unintended disruption of power delivery. Recent
technological advances that include microprocessor based
protection relays and high bandwidth digital communication
networks have significantly improved reliability of power
system protection. Availability of reliable digital
communication media has led to widespread use of differential
protection and deployment of a variety of communication
assisted tripping schemes to transmission lines protection.
[7] K.C. Behrendt, “Relay-to-relay digital logic communication for line
protection, monitoring, and control,” unpublished.
V. BIOGRAPHY
Nathan Mogaru was born and raised in Kisii, a small town
in western part of Kenya. He studied in Kenya and later
obtained his BSc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in December 2007.
After working for several years in the controls industry, he
joined graduate school and obtained a MSc. degree in
Electrical Engineering from UTA in May 2015. He has over
13 years of experience in the controls and power system
protection industries. He currently works at Shermco
Industries as a Senior Electrical Engineer. He is a licensed
professional engineer in the state of Texas and a member of the
IEEE Power and Energy Society (IEEE PES).