The European power system is witnessing massive transformation in order to meet greenhouse gas emission and renewable energy targets in the coming years. Accomplishing these targets requires new technologies and the concerted efforts from everyone involved in the power sector.
The InnoDC project is developing innovative tools and methods to manage future power grids and help integrate renewable energy. The project aspires to contribute to European innovation and has shared its results with the scientific community, as well as other audiences for far-reaching impact. The following statistics highlight the project's achievements to October 2020, with much more planned before the end of 2021.
InnoDC's research focuses on developing solutions to help the use of new technology in the power system and address challenges of offshore wind power integration. In 2019, 15% of Europe's energy demand came from wind (12.2% onshore and 2.3% offshore)*.
The project is conducting research at system, equipment and device levels. At system level, the researchers are studying the interaction between hybrid AC/DC grid, AC/DC protections, as well as how to make the system more reliable and cost-effective. At equipment level, they are analysing modular multilevel converters (MMCs), DC/DC converters and DC circuit breakers. They have proposed new control and modelling methods to better operate offshore wind power systems. At device level, they are looking into new material-based power electronic devices (e.g. silicon carbide) and insulators to increase reliability and reduce cost.
*Source: Wind Europe – "European Wind Energy Generation 2019"
InnoDC researchers have presented their work at 27 international conferences spanning over 14 countries, as well as published 15 academic journal articles
The researchers have had the opportunity to be involved in 9 policy-level events where they discussed their results and policy implications.
3 awards have been presented to the researchers for their outstanding research and presentation skills.
Their work has led to 3 collaborations, enabling the researchers to expand their technical knowledge and network with other specialists
They have been involved in 18 public activities (outreach) by delivering interesting tutorials, hands-on workshops - and online webinars during COVID-19 restrictions - for school and university students. They also teach and help with educational planning, alongside their research.
InnoDC’s academic and industrial experts have organised more than 16 training sessions for the researchers on diverse topics ranging from technical know-how, IPR (Intellectual Property Rights), open access (the free sharing of research), entrepreneurship, innovation and other transferrable skills.
The project has promoted its work through its website and social media on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. It has created and published 37 videos to demonstrate its results, which has led to high viewing figures and been specially pertinent during COVID-19 restrictions