R&D Projects

n late 2015, E-REDES installed the first grid-connected medium-voltage electric energy storage solution using stationary lithium-ion batteries, with an output of 472 kW and a storage capacity of 360 kWh. 

As part of the contribution of energy storage to the innovation and energy efficiency strategy, considerable effort has been made to test and implement functionalities, to adapt them for use in various case studies to support the management of distribution networks, both in stand-alone operation and integrated in a broader control perspective, including, for example, differential inclusion in the H2020 SENSIBLE project or more recently in the H2020 InteGrid project. 

During 2016, immediately after the system was installed and the original project functionalities were tested, a phase of development and analysis of new use cases and improvement and testing of the system's intelligence methods began, with a special focus on operational safety and control automations. 

Already in 2018, a system performance monitoring solution was implemented, which will allow detailed conclusions to be drawn about the operation of the storage system for a more detailed techno-economic analysis of the use of storage to support the management of distribution networks. 

This initiative will contribute decisively to the collection of essential data for the evaluation of business models regarding the exploitation of these technologies, especially at a time when the technical effort to validate the storage solutions is already consolidated, with clear evidence of its potential. 

This pilot project thus makes an important contribution to the new paradigm of smart grids, and E-REDES is already recognized as a pioneer with the Inovgrid project. 

The current context of electricity grids, marked by demanding challenges such as market liberalization, the growing penetration of distributed generation, the emergence of the self-consumption regime, the advent of electric mobility, demand flexibility, and the increasingly active role of grid customers, reinforces the need to adopt innovative strategies and disruptive technologies in the management of the distribution grid.