Through the Renewable Energy Innovation Centre ACCIONA provides innovative proposals for wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, electricity storage and network integration technologies.
The company tests, characterises and integrates the best technologies in renewable energies available on the market, and collaborates with different manufacturers on new products to streamline the cost and reliability of the clean energy generated.
In ACCIONA's Energy business, the Technological Innovation area has teams in Madrid, Sarriguren (Navarra, Spain), Chile and Mexico City. In addition, we carry out projects under development in other countries, such as Australia.
We also have experimental facilities where some of the technological solutions are developed and tested, such as the Barasoain Experimental Plant (wind) and the Montes de Cierzo PV Plant (solar), both in Navarra (Spain), the Solar Innovation Hub in El Romero, Chile, the first floating photovoltaic pilot plant connected to the grid in Spain at the Sierra Brava reservoir in Extremadura and the first green hydrogen plant in the country, located in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain).
In 2019, the challenge “Advanced technologies for the operation and maintenance of generation assets” was launched as part of the I’MNOVATION Program to find startups capable of presenting disruptive technologies for the O&M of energy generation plants. Qualifying Photovoltaics (QPV) was the startup selected to develop a predictive real-time monitoring system and performance optimization for photovoltaic plants, specifically for the Sishen photovoltaic plant in South Africa.
This new system, Solarbrain®, performs a comprehensive, real-time audit with low uncertainty of a PV plant's operation. This service is based on a big-data engine with predictive algorithms that use the facility's operational data and return results to facilitate both short- and long-term optimization of production and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, enabling the maximization of economic returns.
During the pilot, this methodology was applied at the string, tracker, and inverter levels in the Sishen plant, allowing for the detection of up to 40% more failures and reducing the number of fault alerts in the plant by over 50%.
Given the positive results obtained during the pilot, Acciona continues working with the QPV startup to apply Solarbrain® in other photovoltaic plants.
The GREENCHAIN® project was born with the mission of providing our clients with real-time traceability of energy from our renewable generation plants and storage systems to their points of consumption. To achieve this, not only is this information integrated into an interface that our clients can use to visualize or download data or display dynamically at their facilities as a marketing tool, but it is also recorded on blockchain to enhance transparency. In this way, GREENCHAIN® acts as a layer that provides transparency and complements the current mechanisms for certifying renewable attributes. Furthermore, this software tool integrates information about the social initiatives that ACCIONA carries out in the communities where its generation plants are located, with the goal of involving our clients in the social commitment that defines ACCIONA.
Its operation is very straightforward: GREENCHAIN® collects information about the energy being produced at each of ACCIONA's renewable generation plants integrated into the system, as well as consumption data from the meters at each of our clients' consumption points. In fact, it is possible to view each kWh as a unique token produced at a specific time and place, with a series of attributes (type of renewable source, plant age, owner, etc.).
As client consumption data is gathered, it is assigned to generation through smart contracts, whose logic is programmed considering decentralization, transparency, and system reliability, while always avoiding any double or duplicate spending: it is not possible to assign the same token (in this case, energy) to two different clients. This way, our clients not only know what type of renewable energy is being used to generate electricity but also exactly which renewable generation plant is producing it.
The I’MNOVATION Startups program served as the framework under which the first pilot for this solution was developed.
At ACCIONA, we develop Innovation in the Energy business taking a collaborative approach, cooperating with public and private institutions, both universities and research centres, as well as industries and companies providing public and private services. In addition, we collaborate with startup ecosystems around the world related to international knowledge centres to incorporate new solutions, develop capabilities and propose new business for the company.
ACCIONA applies Blockchain technology to verify that 100 % renewable energy is loaded into the power grid from two storage facilities in Navarra (Spain).
As part of the I'MNOVATION #Startups programme, ACCIONA has developed a pilot project for a commercial demonstrator, for the traceability of renewable sources of clean energy generated in Spain and by customers in Portugal, Mexico and Chile.
ACCIONA, through its commercial platform Greenchain®, applies Blockchain technology to certify the origin of the energy produced in its renewable generation plants, in real time and in a transparent way for its clients. This initiative was considered by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as exemplary and disruptive, and selected in 2020 as one of the most innovative solutions of the decade in the energy sector.
ACCIONA has two experimental battery-powered energy storage plants, one connected to a wind farm in Barásoain and another connected to a photovoltaic plant in Tudela, both in Spain. In both, grid integration technology has been developed with different functionalities such as: frequency regulation, voltage regulation, ramp control, arbitration and power guarantee accredited according to the GRIDSTOR procedure.
ACCIONA studies solutions for maximising the power curve by adopting control strategies in several turbine models operated by the company.
Within this scenario, we also are also working on the study, implementation and validation of noise reduction measures in wind turbines with different blade manufacturers.
The company has developed the manufacture of spare parts using 3D printing technology, thus avoiding technological obsolescence.
Turbine for Life
ACCIONA researches solutions to increase efficiency and extend the useful life of wind turbines under optimum safety and reliability conditions.
In this regard, the Turbine for Life programme develops a diagnosis of turbine status, provides predictive information on performance and offers recommendations regarding decisions about operation and maintenance.
ACCIONA has developed the WINDBRAIN® tool, using Big Data technology, Machine Learning and artificial intelligence.
This programme is also based on the application and use of physical and hybrid predictive models. Turbine for Life also helps to reduce operation and maintenance costs and extend the useful life of the wind turbines.
Thor
ACCIONA has implemented in Mexico a digital tool with artificial intelligence, THOR®, capable of predicting electrical storms, allowing decisions to be anticipated in order to make wind farms safer.
Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca
ACCIONA is researching the most efficient way to produce green hydrogen by using renewable energy sources as a renewable raw material in the industry, as a substitute for fossil fuels in the mobility sector and as part of the energy transition by helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the supply of natural gas.
This will make it possible to decarbonize a large number of processes currently being carried out in the island.
The company examines channels using 3D modelling technology for digitalisation and enhancements in security.
The company has developed an autonomous device (floating robot) capable of avoiding the deposition on the bottom sludge from the loading chambers of ACCIONA's Hydraulic Power Plants to avoid sedimentation and accumulation of sludge and therefore periodic cleaning that includes stopping the turbines, managing the sludge itself and the consequent labour and production losses.
ACCIONA has also manufactured the first active noise mitigation system prototype for hydroelectric plants, as a preliminary step to implementation at a real plant.
ACCIONA Energía put the first commercial wind farms into service in Spain almost 30 years ago. The experience obtained since then has made the company one of the most trusted in the sector.
ACCIONA Energía produces in Mallorca first industrial ecosystem renewable hydrogen on the european island.
We are used to seeing solar panels on the roofs of houses or on large expanses of land, but not on reservoirs.