variable neighborhood search algorithm

Identifying the fault location in the transmission lines and fixing the problem in the shortest possible time is of particular importance to reduce blackouts and increase the reliability of the network. One of these fault location methods is the impedance-based method. The precise values of transmission line parameters and the Thevenin impedance of the network are unknown due to various issues such as temperature change and network structure, which can affect the accuracy of this method in locating the fault in both uncompensated and compensated transmission lines. Therefore, in this article, the proposed method is an intelligent impedance-based method using the variable neighborhood search algorithm, regarding the uncertainty in the line parameters and the Thevenin impedance of the network in locating single-phase-to-ground faults. In the proposed method, only one-end-current data is used to estimate the location of the fault, which does not require a telecommunication platform and results in increasing the reliability of the location method. The simulation results show that the method has high accuracy in fault location in transmission lines even though the line parameters and Thevenin impedance of the network are unknown. Moreover, the resistance, the angle and the location of the fault, and the level of compensation do not have a significant effect on the accuracy of the fault location.