With the growing demand for scalable and resilient high‐voltage direct current infrastructure driven by offshore renewables and international power exchange, multi‐terminal DC (MTDC) systems are emerging as a key solution. However, their deployment is hindered by the lack of effective DC fault protection. Conventional single‐layer architectures assign detection, limitation, and interruption to a single breaker, resulting in over‐engineered designs and high system complexity. This study proposes a multi‐layer protection approach that decouples fault current management into two dedicated functions: a thyristor‐based fault current limiter for initial current suppression and an active resonance circuit breaker for selective fault isolation. A comparative simulation using the CIGRE B4.57 MTDC benchmark in PSCAD/EMTDC evaluates the proposed scheme against a widely adopted hybrid DC circuit breaker baseline. The results demonstrate reduced peak fault current, lower surge‐arrester stress, and a significant decrease in semiconductor requirements. Together, these outcomes confirm that the proposed multi‐layer architecture provides comparable interruption performance while offering practical implementation advantages and improved scalability for future MTDC systems.

With the increasing deployment of DC power systems, particularly in DC distribution systems, there is a growing demand for rapid and effective fault current limiting solutions. Conventional fault current limiters (FCLs) often suffer from limitations in terms of response time, size, and operational complexity. As a solution to these challenges, this paper proposes a hybrid FCL based on a pyro conductor switch (PCS), which combines passive limiting elements with an active switching mechanism. The proposed PCS FCL consists of a pyro fuse, an IGBT switch, a limiting inductor, and a damping resistor. Upon fault detection, the IGBT switch is first turned off to initiate current transfer into the limiting branch. Subsequently, the pyro fuse operates by explosively severing the embedded conductor using a pyrotechnic charge, thereby providing galvanic isolation and reinforcing current commutation into a high-impedance path. This operational characteristic enables effective fault current suppression without requiring complex control or real-time sensing. A detailed analysis using PSCAD/EMTDC simulations was conducted to evaluate the current limiting characteristics under fault conditions, and a prototype was subsequently developed to validate its performance. The simulation results were verified through experimental testing, indicating the limiter’s ability to reduce peak fault current. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the degree of current limitation can be effectively designed through the selection of appropriate current limiting parameters. This demonstrates that the proposed PCS-based FCL provides a practical and scalable solution for improving protection in DC power distribution systems.