Italian energy company Enel said that its subsidiary Enel Green Power has become a partner in the European OSMOSE project by agreeing to place two of its Italian renewable assets under the project trials.
Image: A wind farm in operation. Photo: courtesy of 2nix/Freedigitalphotos.net.
OSMOSE, which expands to Optimal System-Mix Of flexibility Solutions for European Electricity, aims to promote the spread of renewable energy at the global level by developing integrated systems and services.
Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, OSMOSE will see trials carried out that are mainly focused on renewables, storage systems, smart grid management and demand response technologies.
Enel through the 18MW Potenza Pietragalla wind farm and the San Fiorano pumped-storage hydropower plant in Italy will participate in the trials. The Italian firm said that the objective of the trials will be to find new flexibility solutions to support the electric system.
The trials are expected to begin in 2020 with first results to come out in 2021.
Enel said that through OSMOSE, the Pietragalla wind farm’s features will be improved, thereby facilitating the real-time supply of transmission grid regulation services to Terna, an Italian electricity transmission system operator (TSO).
The wind farm located in Basilicata will also coordinate with other renewables plants and several industrial customers in the region for the optimal and smart management of the grid segment engaged in the trials.
The San Fiorano pumped-storage hydropower plant will be tested for new methods for managing secondary power regulation between Italy and Slovenia through the OSMOSE project activities.
The hydropower plant will also be able to take part in a new cross-border regulation services market with the objective of enhancing Slovenian grid balancing, said Enel.
OSMOSE, which was started in January, will end in December 2021. Its objective will be to identify and develop flexibilities needed to facilitate the energy transition to high share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) via a holistic approach.
The project includes 33 partners from nine countries made up of six European TSOs, five RES electricity producers like Enel, Edison and others, along with ABB, IBM and Schneider Electric and other firms.