RENEWABLE ENERGY PLATFORM - Sardegna Ricerche

The context which triggered the introduction of the analysed practice is the "growing energy demand", together with the "global awareness of the climate changes" due to the greenhouse gas emissions. These factors have led to the continuous implementation of renewable energy sources (RES) in the past decade and this trend is foreseen to continue. The transition from the centralized and programmable energy generation to the distributed generation, based on non-programmable sources, is a challenge for the electric power system. Among many technical solutions, the concept that appears most prominent and feasible is related to the development of the energy micro-grids. The analysed practice is realized in the Technology Park of Sardinia and has been implemented by Sardegna Ricerche. Currently, the centre’s electric infrastructure is organized in three different micro-grids, each of them fed by a dedicated photovoltaic generator. The generators are composed of different technologies, (monocrystalline silicon panels, amorphous silicon panels and photovoltaic concentrators). Such enables the long term comparison among performance of the different types of photovoltaic generators. The photovoltaic generators are supported by two battery storage systems. There are also two biomass conversion plants active in the centre, which are: the anaerobic digestion plant and the pyrolysis plant. The activities related to the project are carried out by 15 collaborators with different skills.