smart-grid

 

Financed by: POR CALABRIA FESR 2007/2013
Period: April 2014- Dec 2015

Introduction

The smart grid project intends to develop and test smart communities that are energy self-sufficient and powered by a small biogas plant powered by forsu (organic fraction of solid urban waste).

 

Description

Through the project, a system for generating electricity and thermal energy is developed using organic waste, and, at the same time, a model (also from a legal, economic and financial point of view) of a smart community will be developed that participate in the management and sharing of energy produced by the FORSU (organic fraction of urban solid waste). The plant - the main result of the project - is a Community plant, that is "connected" to the Community in which it operates, not only in logistical and material terms, but because it makes the benefits of energy production fall within the same community , favoring the energetic advantage of citizenship.

The project proposes not only an innovative technological model, but also a model where the concepts of reciprocity, community cooperation and collective development become strategic.

 

Aims 

  • Implementation of an innovative and self-sufficient energy system that meets the energy needs of users in the residential sector and / or SMEs and / or public buildings through the development of a model (eg technological, financial, legal elements) for smart communities.
  • The project proposes to study a model and then experiment with it as an energy self-sufficient smart community powered by small biogas powered by Forsu. The Model we think of is a Community plant model, that is, perfectly integrated into the community where it is located in logistical and material terms and which brings benefits for the community itself.
  • Reduction of production and management costs of energy and heat.
  • Smart management of the grid and the creation of a smart community means more effective and efficient savings, production and consumption of the energy produced.
  • Furthermore, there are other advantages of a microgrid compared to a passive power grid in which there are generating units:
  • reduction of the need for conveyance and therefore of losses in the transmission and distribution networks given the proximity between users and micro generators;
  • reduction of investments in infrastructures (lines, power stations) for the transport of electricity;
  • optimization of energy supply and demand;
  • active role of consumers who, in the context of the micro-network, can choose their own consumption profile and service quality (not necessarily the same as the uniform ones practiced at the macro-network level), having in exchange benefits in terms of the price of the supply.
  • Promotion of the resolution of the social and environmental problem of waste management and disposal
  • The waste management process is a problem that is now difficult to tackle with the methodologies currently used. We must therefore tackle this problem by trying to convert it into an opportunity.
  • Separate collection is going slowly and all the various policies implemented in recent years have given results below the set objectives. At the same time, the possibility of producing energy from waste is emerging. For this reason, the project aims to develop a system for generating electrical and thermal energy by exploiting the waste itself, of an organic nature, and to create a model of management and sharing of energy produced by the FORSU.
  • Improvement of the degree of competitiveness of the companies participating in the project
  • The production of biogas from FORSU represents a new business model for companies, especially on the basis of the new energy bill and the new incentives for biomethane. This model will be developed by the project.
  • Improvement of environmental conditions and protection of the territory.
  • Better management of the waste supply chain, of Forsu in particular, has positive effects in terms of the environment and the protection of the territory, as does, obviously, the production and use of renewable energy.

 

Partners

 

  • ABN
  • CNR IIA
  • UNICAL
  • ACREA
  • COOP TEC