The XFLEX HYDRO project was launched today, the 10th of December, during the United Nations climate change conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. This major project, led by a consortium of 19 members, will play an important role in helping the EU reach its target of producing 32% of its energy from renewable resources by 2030, by demonstrating how innovative hydropower technologies can ensure the safety and flexibility of the power system.

The XFLEX HYDRO project marks the official launch of SuperGrid Institute’s newest facility, the Hydro-Power-Hardware-In-The-Loop (Hydro-PHIL) test platform. The unique quality of this platform is its ability to test model turbines within a real-time simulation of the electrical grid. In the XFLEX HYDRO project, the institute will use this facility to test a new turbine technology to understand how it will behave when integrated into the electrical network, thereby helping develop a mature technology.

SuperGrid Institute will also be working on defining the economic and socio-environmental benefits of flexible technologies and providing guidelines for the deployment and exploitation of hydropower in its role as group leader of work package 11. “SuperGrid Institute’s extensive understanding of the electrical network and its expertise in energy economics were important factors in the decision to name the institute as group leader”, states Renaud Guillaume, Director of SuperGrid Institute’s Power Storage & Balancing research programme.

In order to reach the EU 2030 renewable energy goals, it is essential to develop solutions that will increase the flexibility of the network so that it can cope with the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. SuperGrid Institute will work to define the future needs of the network’s ancillary services, a subject which is already at the core of its Power Storage and Balancing research programme, as part of another work package in the XFLEX HYDRO project.

The work carried out by SuperGrid Institute and its project partners will provide crucial information for Transmission System Operators and manufacturers on how to ensure the stability and reliability of the network through the use of hydropower.

“Being a part of this project gives us an exciting opportunity to collaborate with all the major European players working in the field of hydropower today. We will work together to drive the development of technologies that will facilitate the move towards a greener energy network, in the service of the European people,” comments Renaud Guillaume.

The Hydropower Extending Power System Flexibility (XFLEX HYDRO) project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 857832.