- Start: 01/01/2023
- End: 31/12/2025
The 2030 Framework for climate and energy sets as EU-wide targets for 2030 a 40% cut in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990, and at least a 27% share of renewable energy consumption. In order to accommodate the typical high level of intermittency of these renewable energy sources, storage capacity and flexibility of existing systems need significant improvements.
Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS) stands out as the most mature, cost-effective storage solution available to even the intermittency of these renewable energy inputs, allowing for further reductions in GHG emissions balancing generation and consumption.
Even though pumped hydropower generation is a mature technology, there is still a huge potential to reach, and technological developments are still ongoing. Transforming existing hydropower facilities into reversible pumping plants pose a promising development line, due to its lower CAPEX and development times.
The main objective of the project is to increase PHS energy storage capacity, allowing to increase the renewable energy share in the energy mix and fostering a reduction of the GHG emissions without disrupting the energy grid stability. This objective will be addressed through several modifications and improvements on hydropower turbines operation to transform conventional hydro plants into PHS facilities, upgrading its liability, flexibility and performance in both generating and pumping modes by developing innovative predictive maintenance and operation control strategies, taking advantage of an innovative Digital Twin approach.
Outcomes will be tested in a real-world scenario provided by Valparaíso plant, from Iberdrola portfolio. An intensive monitoring and modelling program will be applied to this facility critical components, in order to develop a true and accurate Digital Twin. The Digital Twin output will allow engineers to assess stress and fatigue optimizing range of operation, minimizing casualties, and coming up with predictive maintenance programs based on foreseen wear. But it will also have a direct impact enhancing performance of current machines, identifying room for improvements, and allowing to develop new solutions and testing it on the digital twin without addressing usual cycles and costs.
In conclusion, HydroSES project will produce new and meaningful knowledge based on advanced Digital Twins, allowing for reliable predictive maintenance and true predictions over remanent life of critical components. Therefore, reverse pumping mode will be enabled in facilities where this functionality is not yet exploited, leading the way to scalability and implementation of reversible PHS plants that will contribute to the transition towards a greener and smarter energy market.
- Sectors: Industrial Maintenance, Renewable energies
- Financing programme: Proyectos de colaboración público-privada 2021
- R&D&i: Life cycle assessment. Carbon footprint.
- Leader: Iberdrola Renovables Energía, S.A.U.
- Partners: AIMEN Centro Tecnológico, TWave
- Acronym: HYDROSES
- Ambit: National
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