Visit to La Plana, Hybrid Facility during the Sixth Periodic Meeting of TALENT project

On 1 February during the Sixth Periodic Meeting of the TALENT project, in Zaragoza, Spain, the consortium partners visited La Plana, a hybrid facility hosted by SGRE. The partners had the opportunity to see all the power generation units (the wind turbine, the photovoltaic plant, the diesel power plant), the batteries, and the DHEMS (the hybrid control of the installation).

La Plana facility from Siemens-Gamesa is one of the TALENT project pilots. Its role in the project has been to validate the cloud and local DHEMS (Decentralised Hybrid Energy Management System) that have been developed during the first stage of TALENT.

Based on the TALENT control architecture, two different scenarios have been successfully tested:

• Scenario 1 has showcased the Virtual Power Plant (CyberNOC) from CyberGRID managing two power plants from La Plana, which were in turn managed each by a Local DHEMS;
• Scenario 2 has showcased two independent power plants in La Plana that were managed by a Local DHEMS unit each one, while at the same time, they were managed by a technical aggregator (the Cloud DHEMS), which was finally managed by the Virtual Power Plant from cyberGRID

La Plana has gone a long way since it first started operation on 2015. Now it offers a whole hybrid scenario with renewable generation (photovoltaic solar and wind energy), diesel generation, storage systems and loads.

It has three operation modes:

• Offgrid: where the generation cost is reduced by achieving the maximum integration of renewable energy in optimal conditions;
• Ongrid: that allows to inject the maximum amount of energy from renewable sources while complying with grid code requirements;
• Weak grids: allows to operate safely in unstable grids, by creating microgrids that ensure critical load supply when external grid conditions are not suitable for electricity supply

The ongrid operation mode has been operative since 2019, when TALENT project started, and since then additional functionalities have allowed the implementation of weak grids mode and operation with virtual power plants.

During this visit to La Plana different tests in Offgrid and Ongrid modes were performed to show the DHEMS control in reality.

David Baraja (SGRE) described some tests in offgrid and ongrid modes inside the control room

In addition, the 1.25 MW Power Converter System by Gamesa Electric was presented and explained.

Despite being over 10 years old and outdated when compared to the new developments made for the TALENT project, the power converter system (PCS) used by GaE to connect batteries to the grid in La Plana has proven to be a reliable and effective technology. During the visit, one of their 1.25 MW PCSs was showcased, demonstrating how the main principles of power conversion can be applied through various power converters. This highlights the enduring value and practicality of this old-fashioned technology, which has demonstrated its worth over the years and remains a viable option for power conversion.

These power converter systems can operate both in offgrid and ongrid modes. When in offgrid mode, they can work in grid feeding and grid forming modes. They are used for testing and validation purposes only, not in a continuous way.

Francisco Javier Pedraza (SGRE) showed the Power Converter System from Gamesa Electric