EDA – Electricidade dos Açores has inaugurated an innovative battery energy storage system on the island of Terceira. This project was designed and built by a consortium formed by Siemens Portugal and Fluence, in collaboration with EDP, as the principal engineering consultant, and other entities.
EDA’s new Grid Storage and Management System is one of the pioneers in Europe, and will contribute to the promotion of renewables volatility and energy independence in the archipelago, and results from an investment of €14 million, 85% co-financed by the Azure programme. 2020, through the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund.
This new infrastructure has a capacity of 15 MW, distributed over 6 transformers, and a storage capacity of 10.5 MWh (EOF, End Of Live, i.e. at the end of its useful life).
The entities involved in the project explain that this new system includes advanced microgrid management software developed by Siemens, which allows monitoring of the entire electrical system on the island in real time and making closer estimates of energy production and consumption over many days and hours, based on weather forecasts and historical data.
“This project is an important step towards a sustainable future for Terceira and the Azores,” says Nuno Pimentel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Diving Association, adding that it will allow “to mitigate the instability caused by the volatility of intermittent renewable resources, such as wind power, and can replace The diesel spinning reserve needed to deal with the challenges of ensuring the stability of the power grid as well as the power quality requirements of an isolated system like ours.”
For Fernando Silva, CEO of Siemens Portugal and in charge of the Smart Infrastructure business unit at Siemens, this project “reflects what we want for the world: a more sustainable energy mix and greater resilience to any crises that may arise affecting this vital sector of each of us’s lives” .
“With great pride we collaborated in the development of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy project, convinced that its innovative and sustainable nature makes it a role model all over the world,” confirms Ana Paula Marquez, Executive Director of EDP and President of EDP Produção, which highlights Energy’s commitment in building a new model for energy.
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