Currents Distribution During a Fault in an MV Network: Methods and Measurements

When a single line to ground fault (SLGF) happens on the MV side of an HV/MV system, only a small portion of the fault current is injected into the ground by the ground grid of the faulty substation. In fact, the fault current is distributed between grounding electrodes and MV cables sheaths. In systems with isolated neutral or with resonant earthing, this may be sufficient to provide safety from electric shock. Experimental measurements were performed on a real MV distribution network: a real SLGF was made and fault currents were measured in the faulty substation and in four neighboring substations. In this paper, the problem of fault current distribution is introduced, the test system is described and the measurements results are presented.