Abstract A novel directional protection technique based on the post-fault current signal and a directional reference current signal is presented in this paper. A directional current signal is derived from the post-fault current signal, and the absolute sum of the post-fault current signal and a reference current signal. The ability to differentiate between a fault in one direction or the other is obtained using the directional current signal and the directional normal power flow before fault occurrence. No voltage signal is required to determine the direction to the fault. A variety of faults and system conditions have been simulated to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of the proposed technique. Results show that the new technique is not affected by the system operating parameters.