Combined overvoltage and undervoltage 
relay
REU 523
1MRS 751123-MBG
2
Application The over and undervoltage relay REU 523 is 
a secondary relay which is connected to the 
voltage transformers of the object to be pro-
tected. The over and the undervoltage unit 
continuously measure the fundamental wave 
of the phase-to-phase voltages of the object. 
On detection of a fault, the relay will start, 
trip the circuit breaker, provide alarms, record 
fault data, etc., in accordance with the appli-
cation and the configured relay functions.
The overvoltage unit includes low-set stage 
U> and high-set stage U>> and the undervolt-
age unit low-set stage U< and high-set stage 
U<<. The high-set undervoltage stage can 
alternatively be set to evaluate the positive-
phase-sequence voltage. In addition, the high-
set undervoltage stage can be configured to 
evaluate only one instead of three phase-to-
phase voltages.
The protection functions are independent of 
each other and have their own setting groups 
and data recordings. The over and undervolt-
age functions use conventional voltage trans-
former measurement. 
An output contact matrix allows start or trip 
signals from the protection stages to be 
routed to the desired output contact. 
Design The relay includes a high-set and low-set 
overvoltage unit, a high-set and low-set und-
ervoltage unit and a circuit-breaker failure 
protection unit. Further, the relay includes an 
HMI module, a self-supervision system and a 
disturbance recorder.
Overvoltage unit
When the voltage values exceed the set start 
value of low-set stage U>,  the overvoltage 
unit will start to deliver a start signal after a 
~60 ms’ start time. When the set operate time 
at definite-time characteristic or the calcu-
lated operate time at inverse definite mini-
mum time (IDMT) characteristic elapses, the 
overvoltage unit will deliver a trip signal.
When the voltage values exceed the set start 
value of high-set stage U>>, the overvoltage 
unit will start to deliver a start signal after a 
~50 ms’ start time. When the set operate time 
at definite-time characteristic or the calcu-
lated operate time at IDMT characteristic 
elapses, the overvoltage unit will deliver a 
trip signal.
The low-set and the high-set stage of the 
overvoltage unit can be given either a defi-
nite-time or an IDMT characteristic. At 
IDMT characteristic, two time/voltage curve 
groups, A and B, are available.
It is possible to block the tripping of an over-
voltage stage by applying an external binary 
input signal to the relay.
The high-set stage can be set out of operation. 
This state will be indicated by dashes on the 
LCD and by “999” when the set start value is 
read via serial communication.
Undervoltage unit
When the voltage values fall below the set 
start value of low-set stage U<, the undervolt-
age unit will start to deliver a start signal after 
a ~ 80 ms’ start time. When the set operate 
time at definite-time characteristic or the cal-
culated operate time at IDMT characteristic 
elapses, the undervoltage unit will deliver a 
trip signal.
The high-set undervoltage stage, U<<, can be 
set to start and trip either based on conven-
tional undervoltage measurement or on the 
calculated positive-phase-sequence voltage, 
U
1s
. Selecting either of these two will auto-
matically deseclect the other.
When the conventional protection mode has 
been selected and the voltage values fall 
below the set start value of the high-set stage, 
the undervoltage unit will start to deliver a 
start signal after a  ~50 ms’ start time.
When the positive-phase-sequence protec-
tion mode has been selected and the calcu-
lated positive-phase-sequence voltage value, 
U
1s
, falls below the set start value of the high-
set stage, the undervoltage unit will start to 
deliver a start signal after a ~50 ms’ start 
time. When the set operate time at definite-
time characteristic or the calculated operate 
time at IDMT characteristic elapses, the und-
ervoltage unit will deliver a trip signal.
The low-set and the high-set stage of the und-
ervoltage unit can be given either a definite-
time or an IDMT characteristic. At IDMT 
characteristic, one time/voltage curve group, 
C, is available.
The start and the tripping of an undervoltage 
stage can be set to be internally blocked when 
the measured value falls below 0.2 x U
n
. In