“10 years ago we set ourselves out to contract European research and development projects; today we are carrying out 5 such projects, as well as a grant with Norwegian funds!”. Thus began the presentation given by Gheorghe Florea, General Manager of SIS SA, at the opening of the conference “Smart solutions for efficient control of micro-grids”, on September 29. He was accompanied by 4 other top speakers who exposed to the public present in Constanța the general problems of operation of a micro-grid, case studies, as well as solutions to ensure the operation.
At the end, the speakers answered the questions launched by the participants in the assistance, over 130 people registered in the online platform MyConnector.
Proven experience and openness to innovation
Until a few years ago, SIS was mainly active in the oil and gas industry, from extraction to refining and distribution. In the last 10 years, electricity has become just as important, Gheorghe Florea pointed out, mainly due to the successes in this sector: “We have applications for process control in wind farms, photovoltaic parks and thermal power plants. We develop automation systems such as SCADA, PLC, DCS and Process Information (PI)”, exemplified the general director of SIS. In the area of SIS (safety & security) systems, the company works mainly with the German company Hima.
For Transelectrica, SIS has carried out several studies, including “Strategic aspects regarding the integration of wind energy in the SEN” and “Study on the implementation of automation for triggering groups in critical evacuation regimes of power produced in areas with accelerated development of the production park from renewable sources”. “In both projects we worked together with the Faculty of Energy and the Faculty of Automation within the Polytechnica University of Bucharest”, stated Gheorghe Florea.
For over 12 years, SIS has been using its own remote control center. “We called it the PH Center, an acronym for Process Help Center,” the SIS official said, before launching an invitation all to those interested to visit the center.
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The main advantage of using the PHCenter solution in applications is the achievement of significant savings by reducing consumption as follows: electricity, up to 24%; natural gas, up to 18%; water up to 32%.
Energy management at the local level
Renewable energy sources will become the main pillar of development of the Romanian energy system, just like in Europe and everywhere in the world. “Monsson is part of the Romanian energy industry, with the ambition to actively participate in the transformation of the Romanian energy sector by developing renewable projects, both wind and solar,” said Sebastian Enache, Business Development Manager & Member of the Monsson Board.
Renewable energy, especially wind and photovoltaic, offers today not only the cleanest and most sustainable way to produce energy, but also the cheapest, said Enache. “In addition, renewables are accelerating the decarbonization of electricity, heating and transport, with the potential to create a significant number of highly skilled jobs in the Member States.”
Renewable technologies are flexible and easily integrated, and for the time being, Transelectrica allows the integration of several energy sources in dispatchable units, for the generator. From 2021, it will be possible to integrate consumers, “thus advancing towards the true concept of virtual power plant”. “Ultimately, the future means flattening the production curve, reducing imbalances; through integrated production, storage and consumption systems, more and more efficient electricity management is possible.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF SEBASTIAN ENACHE
This management is no longer based only on transport and distribution infrastructure, but it solves the problems locally – if you put a wind or photovoltaic park and a battery next to a village, you no longer have to inject energy into the system, there is no need for line upgrades, because you can use the energy at the locality level”, explained Enache.
Pilot for tests and verification of microgrid management scenarios
Using Norwegian funding, the SIS project aims to provide a technical basis for the implementation of a micro-grid, taking into account the legislative aspects adopted or in the process of being adopted. From a technical perspective, SIS wants to go through all the design stages, starting from analyzing the profile of a user, in order to develop a control strategy, the implementation, as well as the analysis of the resulting data and the return of investment. “We will be able to test in real conditions the operation when disconnected from the grid, the operation when connected to the grid and the control strategies related to each operation scenario of the microgrid”, said Oana Chenaru, Process Control Engineer SIS SA, in a detailed description of the project.
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Depending on the availability of existing energy sources, the energy stored in the batteries and the consumer demand, the microgrid controller distributes and controls the energy between all the components of the microgrid. The controller will monitor the production and consumption of energy inside the microgrid to decide the optimal operating strategy based on the defined indicators and on the user’s market strategy.
Partnership with academia
Directly involved in the pilot project carried out by SIS, Lucian Toma, Conf. dr. within the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, presented aspects related to the simulation of storage systems and especially the results of the first simulations with sampling of 15 minutes and 1 minute, respectively. “The system allows for a control strategy customized for the beneficiary’s market strategy,” he said.
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“Maintaining the exchange of power with the public grid at a predefined value (the balance within the microgrid) is influenced by the quality of the forecast and the market strategy”, Lucian Toma added. “The sampling interval becomes important depending on the market strategy, in the sense that sampling is required at 1-second intervals for the situation of operation when disconnected from the grid.”
In his speech, Prof. Dr. Eden Mamut, from Ovidius University of Constanța, referred to the concept of microgrids that integrate multiple utilities. These microgrids are an approach in which the infrastructures for the production, transmission and distribution of electricity, heat, gas water and others are combined with storage technologies and are coordinated to identify synergies between them, in order to obtain optimal solutions for each type of utility in part and for the energy system as a whole.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF EDEN MAMUT
“The holistic approach to the development of microgrids that integrate multiple utilities offers many advantages in terms of capitalizing on renewable energy. An interdisciplinary approach is needed, integrating different technologies, systems, economic models and energy markets based on a new legislative framework and an attitude based on understanding consumer behavior and the social and cultural dimensions”, concluded Prof. Dr. Eden Mamut.
The conference “Smart solutions for efficient control of micro-grids” was organized by SIS SA, through the EEA and Norway Grants program 2014-2021, carried out through Innovation Norway, based on the “Smart Micro Grid Controller <Smart-µGC>” project, contract 2020/505837.
130 people have registered on the MyConnector platform to participate in the dialogue, representatives of organizations such as 3M Romania, ABB ASEA BROWN BOVERI SRL, Academia de Studii Economice București, Academia Navala Mircea cel Bătrân, Adisun Smart Systems, AFEER, Aktron, Amber Technologies, ANRE, Asociatia Patronală Surse Noi de Energie- AP SUNE, Asociatia Solar Decathlon Romania, ASRO, Avest Solutions Consult, Belvedere, BF Romania, BM DEMAILLE Bruno, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Business France, Camusat, Cert&Grafv Fusion, CEZ Vanzare, Cluj Innovation Park, CmT Elec, Control Point, Coproform SRL, Crest Energy SRL, East Solar, ECO EUROPE ENGİNEERİNG, EcooLogica Naturii SRL, Electrica, Electrica Furnizare SA, Electrica SA, electricianul, Electromagnetica, Electromontaj S.A., Electrotehnica Consult SRL, ELSACO SOLUTIONS, Embassy of Canada, ENEC, Energie Finanzierung und Kapital, Energo ESCO, EnergoBit SA, Energy Serv, Engie Romania, Etex Building Performance, Eximprod Grup, Eximprod Grup, Expert Connection, fastPark, FPPG, Garanti BBVA, GETEC Servicii Energetice srl, GLOBEMA, Hafner srl, Hidroelectrica, Honeywell, Huawei, ICI Bucuresti, INCDIE ICPE-CA, INCDTIM Cluj-Napoca, Industrial Reform Grup, ISPH Project development, J. Christof E&P Services srl, Johnson Controls, Lapp Romania SRL, Liberty SteelGalati, MGMENERGO ELECTRO SYSTEMS, Ministerul Economiei, Energiei si Mediului de Afaceri, Omron, OMVP, ONV Law, Orange Romania, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Power Engineering Institute, Q SRL Iasi, QETICS, RADET Constanta, Rominterface Impex SRL, Sanador, Schneider Electric, SDEE Muntenia Nord, SDEE TS- Mures, Siemens, Sitta Research SRL, Smart Factor, SmartGrider Electric SRL, Sunrise Trade, Technical University of Moldova, Technosam, The National Agency for Research and Development in Moldova, TIAB SA, TimePal România, Tractebel Engineering, Trade Motion, Transgaz, Transylvania Energy Cluster, UPRUC CTR SA FAGARAS, Valmet, Vectis TET, VSB, Xlaed Consult.