GPTech welcomes the demonstration of the project “Internet of Energy”
GPTech has welcomed the presentation of the developments of the European project “Internet of Energy” (IoE). This is a three-year project, with an investment of 44 million euros, that brings together 38 partners from 10 different countries.
The purpose is to develop a secure connection between the energy grids and Internet, at the hardware, software and middleware levels, eliminating the existing barriers while enhancing their interoperability. To do this, they are combined power electronics, integrated circuits, sensors, processing units, storage technologies, algorithms and software. Thus, it is achieved a robust, accessible and programmable platform to facilitate the use of renewable energies in an effective manner, both in time and cost.
Within the framework of the IoE project, they have been developed 4 demonstrators that share services through Internet. Each demonstrator focuses on different application scenarios: an office building, a charging station for electric vehicles, a microgrid and a residential house. The companies involved on this occasion (GPTech, AICIA, Acciona, Tecnalia, Indra, Qinetiq, Empower, ABB, City Motion and Sintef) have recreated, in one of the workshops of GPTech, the ecosystem of a real microgrid composed by power generation systems, recharge points, electric vehicles, storage systems, grid conditioning equipment and consumption of the microgrid.
This demonstration has been leaded by GPTech, responsible of the test bench and of the integration of the different systems. The company has developed a communications network inside the microgrid, capable of communicating by standard IEC61850, as well as the Grid Energy Manager, which links the microgrid and the grid operator, making possible the monitoring of the system through internet. GPTech has supplied, as well, the power electronics equipment necessary for the commissioning of the demonstrator. These equipment include a PV inverter, a battery charger and supercapacitors, an active filter, an AC recharge point and some emulated charges.
Another aspect worth highlighting is the test bench of the e-broker. The e-broker consists of an algorithm of decision that optimizes the purchase-sale of energy among the different elements connected to the microgrid. It allows these elements to negotiate the amount of energy that they can buy or sell depending on the price offer. Additionally, it contributes to the energy stabilization of both the microgrid and the point of interconnection to grid by means of the balance between the offer and the demand, while optimizing not only the generation and the electric consumption, but the cost.
The meeting has been accompanied by an institutional act hold at the Higher School of Engineering of Seville. Francisco Gordillo, Deputy Director of the school, and Vicente Fernández Guerrero, General Secretary of Innovation, Industry and Energy of Andalusia. Mr. Gordillo welcomed the attendees and highlighted the key role of the School of Engineering of Seville in the research and the development fields. On this behalf, Mr. Fernández explained the strategy of Andalusia for the improvement of R+D developments, while presented the Open Future initiative.
Additionally, they were present Antonio Vecchio, Programme Officer at ARTEMIS, who talked about Europe at the forefront of technology development; and Ovidiu Vermsan, coordinator of the project Internet of Energy, who presented the main results and purposes of the project. On behalf of GPTech, Sergio Hurtado, CTO of the company, and Salvador Rodríguez, Project Manager at GPTech. The latter talked about the IoE Exploitation at Regional and City Level
The Internet of Energy project will finish next September in Erlangen (Germany), where the member of the consortium will meet again to show the last developments. There, an expert team will carry out the last revision of the project.
