INCITE project : Making the grid smarter

 

Summer 2019


Worldwide we have a problem: global warming and climate change. In this regard, the European Union (EU) has decided to raise its target of energy consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) to 32% by 2030. By 2050, the EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 levels. In this process, the power grid has been part of the problem but it is also part of the solution.

In the last few years, the appearance of renewable energy sources, distributed generation, and the advances in power electronics, and sensing and communications has led to a change on the energy paradigm (redefining the electrical networks), changing the way we understand it.

The advent of the Smart Grid is a reality, making it the future of electrical power infrastructures. With this, an important number of agents (sources, storage devices and consumers) will have intelligent interfaces allowing the regulation of the injection and extraction of power into the grid. This context will create multiple alternatives to increase the efficiency in electricity generation and consumption, to reduce energy costs and to provide a more reliable operation of electrical grids. However, it also poses new challenges into power distribution due to weather variability, load uncertainty and system coordination. A stable, reliable and secure operation of these future networks will be only possible with suitable control algorithms.

All these problems are currently addressed by INCITE by developing solutions and control strategies for the electricity grid of tomorrow.

 

The general objective of the research programme of INCITE, an H2020 MSCA Innovative Training Network, is to propose innovative solutions for the challenging work of controlling and designing the future electrical networks. Another goal is to create a multidisciplinary research space with a complete view of the smart grid control sector where talented young researchers can be trained through research. In other words, INCITE aims to cover the existing gap between theory and smart grid real world applications, in order to ensure the proper understanding of the novel problems arising due to the implementation of such new technologies as well as to provide with tools that cope with such new requirements.

Some of the key objectives of the research plan of INCITE are:

  • To provide the Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) at the heart of the project with deep knowledge in control, optimisation, power electronics and power systems with a complete view of the real necessities of the main actors in the smart-grid sector.
  • To create a multi-sectoral space where industry and academia can interact to find new and better control solutions for the future electrical networks.
  • To develop high-quality tools and methodologies for the control, power management and monitoring for smart grids.

INCITE, Innovative controls for renewable source integration into smart energy systems, brings together a group of 14 PhDs and is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska- Curie grant agreement 675318.

INCITE, making the grid smarter.


Contact details:
Dr. Jose Luis Dominguez Garcia
INCITE Coordinator
Head of the Power Systems Group
IREC
Email: jldominguez@irec.cat
Web: www.irec.cat