Refurbishing generator protection using digital technology

The author describes how there are a number of functional protection areas on 20+ year old generators which have significant shortcomings. This paper identifies those protection areas and the risks of not addressing them. In addition, a cost-effective strategy to upgrade protection to current industry standards is outlined using multifunction digital relaying. Generation is the single most expensive capital investment of an electric utility. Protecting this investment to prevent failure should be a priority item with utilities as well as nonutility generator owners.