Red Eléctrica de España will invest two million euros in its Grid2030 innovation program, an initiative launched a year ago that seeks to boost the development of technological proposals applied to the operation of the system and the transport network.
Grid2030 aims to identify and develop projects that respond to the major challenges currently facing the electrical system, boosting the development of disruptive technical solutions capable of accelerating the energy transition.
In addition, open to entrepreneurs and innovators from public and private entities, universities, research centers, and companies from around the world, Grid2030 already has, in its first call, two winning consortiums, which will have the backing and financing of Red Eléctrica with around one million euros.
For this reason, the company held on December 5 an event in Madrid with the participation of the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pedro Duque, and the President of Red Eléctrica, Jordi Sevilla. During the day the two selected projects were presented and two new challenges were launched for the second call, which will also be financed with one million euros.
During his speech, Pedro Duque stressed that Spain is a leader in the current European Horizon2020 program in the energy field, which includes energy efficiency projects, smart cities, waste management and circular economy, among others. Duque also pointed out that in order to maintain this leadership, leading engineering and energy industries are needed, as well as companies such as Red Eléctrica, which are committed to R & D & I.
For his part, the president of Red Eléctrica, Jordi Sevilla, noted that this company has innovation in its DNA, not only because since its creation in 1985 it became the first TSO in Europe but also because every year it allocates more than 10 million euros to innovation activities related to electrical technology and its digitization. In addition, the company currently has a pioneer renewable control center worldwide.
Finalist projects for Grid2030
In the first call, focused on boosting solutions aimed at accelerating the implementation of power electronics in the electrical system and developing new resources to provide it with flexibility, 79 proposals were submitted from 10 different countries: Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Colombia (in European consortium) and Poland.
Finally, following an intense evaluation process, two projects have been selected:
- Flexible Smart Transformer (FST) of the CIRCE / EFACEC High Voltage Technology Center (Spain / Portugal). FST consists in the design, development and testing of a new power electronics device based on silicon carbide semiconductors, with multiple potential applications as AC transformer and converter to continuous and vice versa, with active control and new functionalities.
- Reduced Inertia Transiet Stability Enhacement (RITSE) of the IMDEA / SUPERGRID Institute (Spain / France). RITSE consists of two complementary and coordinated control systems to improve transient stability in electrical systems: DVAC (Dynamic Virtual Admittance Control), with HVDC links; and BATTERY (Battery Grid Interface for Improved Transiet Stability), with batteries.
The second call, which begins today, focuses on two new challenges: improving knowledge of the physical state of electricity transportation infrastructures and identifying new technologies and digital services for the energy transition, including the development of new services for the TSO and measures to increase the efficiency of its management.
The deadline for applications ends on February 13, 2019 and two workshops are planned between April and May, so that the selection is carried out in June with the Projects starting in the fourth quarter of the year.
Both the structure of the program and the technological challenges have been jointly defined with InnoEnergy, an entity that promotes innovation in sustainable energy in Europe and that brings its experience in the management of innovation support programs and in the conversion of these projects results in products and services.
With the Grid2030 program, a pioneer in Spain, Red Eléctrica and InnoEnergy are associated to explore socio-economic and technical innovations related to the operation and transportation of electricity and support the development and early commercialization of applications based on cutting-edge technology, accelerating their deployment and maturation through the participation of companies and industries.
With this initiative Red Eléctrica responds to its innovation strategy, which aims to achieve a position as an international benchmark in this area, anticipating the future of electrical systems and accelerating the development of technological solutions that may have a high impact on the activity of the company and improvements for its stakeholders and for society as a whole.
