The members of the G.R.A.C.I.O.S.A. project Consortium, led by Endesa and in which the Ministry of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Knowledge of the Government of the Canary Islands also participates, through the ITC, and CEN Solutions, met last week in Seville with technicians from the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) to evaluate the progress of this initiative, whose objective is to install a smart micro electric grid in La Graciosa that favors the integration of renewable energy on a large scale, making the different agents of the electrical system - distributor, marketer and consumer - have an active behavior in the efficiency of the system in general, and in particular in isolated and island systems. After the meeting, held at the CEN Solutions facilities, responsible for manufacturing the project's storage battery, the Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Adrián Mendoza, joined the technical visit to the factory of this technological partner of the project, where they could see, among other things, the storage infrastructure that will soon be installed on the island of La Graciosa.
In the meeting held, the attendees presented the work carried out and the results obtained within the framework of the G.R.A.C.I.O.S.A. Project in the second year, corresponding to the year 2016. In this year, they have worked intensively on the definition and preparation of the equipment, its programming, the necessary administrative processing and the progress of the work already carried out in 2017. To date, the implementation of two of the three domestic platforms that integrate photovoltaic, storage, demand management, internet connection and intelligence housed in the cloud has begun; the agreements for the integration into the project of the photovoltaic installations already existing in the Municipal Offices of La Graciosa and in the Aldecoa school have also been launched; the network analyzers, the sky cameras for the short-term prediction of photovoltaic production have been installed; a good part of the micro grid control system has been defined and developed, and the necessary characteristics and dimensions for the network battery, which is already very advanced in its construction, have been defined, as could be seen during the visit to the facilities of CEN, the manufacturer of the same.
Real operating data, from October
It is estimated that, after obtaining the latest municipal permits and from the Ministry of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Knowledge of the Government of the Canary Islands for the installation of the battery, which are expected to be obtained in the coming weeks, all the equipment will be installed in the next month of October. From then until March 2018, the date on which the project will be completed, the tests and validation of the equipment and control systems developed in the project will be carried out, in order to obtain relevant real data on the functionalities of the smart micro grid and the benefits for users.
The G.R.A.C.I.O.SA project (Renewable Generation with Storage and Intelligent Consumption for the Operation of distribution networks with Self-Consumption Systems) involves an investment of 2.4 million euros aimed at greater reliability of energy supply in La Graciosa, a more efficient use of energy, the diversification of sources and greater participation of residents in the generation and sale of energy. In addition, this initiative will reduce the island's energy dependence and its technological and innovative nature makes it a benchmark as a case study on the integration of renewable energies in isolated electrical systems. Along with Endesa, ITC and CEN Solutions, the universities of Comillas and La Laguna, Fidetia, FIUS and AICIA are also collaborators in the project.
G.R.A.C.I.O.S.A. is subsidized by the CDTI and has been supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, with aid co-financed by ERDF funds, through the