A consortium led by EirGrid, an electricity grid operator of Ireland, has secured €20m from European Union (EU) to research renewable energy deployment.
The EU-SysFlex project will secure the fund under the EU’s €80 billion research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.
The overall project coordinator will be EirGrid and the technical coordinator will be EDF, a French electricity group.
The total budget of the project will be €26m and will operate till 2021, with the involvement of 34 organisations from 15 countries across Europe.
EirGrid chief executive Fintan Slye said: “Our engineers have been working to meet the challenges of operating the electricity system while achieving high renewable electricity targets.
“Running the power system with the current high levels of renewable energy is unprecedented and presents significant challenges for its real-time operation.”
The EU-SysFlex project will focus on identifying issues related to integration of huge amounts of renewable energy. The project will also offer the power system operators across Europe with practical assistance.
The project team will also work on the improvements needed for European market design, regulation, operational practices and enhanced system tools.
Nearly 24.5% of electricity produced across the island in Ireland in 2016 was from wind energy. Renewable energy To meet Irish and Northern Irish government targets, renewable energy contribution is expected to be increased to 40% by 2020.
The EU also plans to boost the usage of renewable energy to make Europe greener and decarbonised continent.