CT will be responsible for developing the SCADA system for four of the seven photovoltaic plants that will make up the farm, with a total of 200 MW. The SCADA project developed by CT includes all essential elements for the operation and monitoring of the solar farm. From the solar panel inverters to the control units that centralise the data, including communication systems, all the necessary data to manage the plant is concentrated on a single server. “We receive all the data on our server and display it in a PCVue SCADA application, where the operator has all the information needed to efficiently maintain and operate the plant”, explains Francisco Javier González, SCADA and Telecontrol Project Manager at CT.

A key system for plant efficiency and control

The SCADA system is essential for the operability of any power generation plant. In this case, it allows the management of signals from all the plant’s inverters, ensuring efficient control of production. The system provides the operator with access to alarms, setpoints, production logs, and reports that allow the optimisation of all processes and compliance with the strict requirements of the grid operator, in this case, Red Eléctrica de España (REE).

“Energy cannot be fed into the grid without a SCADA system that follows the grid operator’s commands, as it could overload it. Our system ensures that the plant operates within the established parameters, as well as enabling predictive calculations and automatic regulation of the inverters through the Power Plant Controller (PPC)”, explains Francisco Javier González.

Technical collaboration with the Leadernet Group

CT is not alone in this ambitious project. The company has the support of the Leadernet Group, which is responsible for all the communications infrastructure and civil works necessary for the proper functioning of the system. “We have been collaborating with Leadernet for several years in the development of photovoltaic plants. They are responsible for the installation of control units, control cabinets, and distribution panels, as well as fibre optic channels and weather station towers”, adds Javier.

Technical challenges and quality assurance

The development of the SCADA for Renopool posed a technical challenge, especially due to the integration of new inverters and solar trackers, which required specific coding for the signal map. However, thanks to CT’s extensive experience in this type of project, the challenges were effectively overcome. The contract also includes a warranty period to ensure the correct functioning of the system after commissioning, providing support in the first months of operation.

The Renopool solar farm, which will come into operation in the coming months, will be a key project in the renewable energy sector in Spain, and the SCADA system developed by CT will play a crucial role in optimising its performance and efficiently integrating its energy into the national grid.

CT continues to demonstrate its leadership and commitment to innovation in the energy sector, collaborating on projects that drive the country’s sustainable future.

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The H2TECH4SHIP project is being conducted under the auspices of Navantia’s lead project, INNCODIS, as part of PERTE Naval, and has received funding of more than 1.3 million euros for the development of innovative technologies in maritime transport.

The “H2TECH4SHIP” project, focused on researching the requirements and equipment necessary for hydrogen-driven propulsion, has been selected for funding by PERTE Naval, as part of the framework of NAVANTIA’s lead project “INNCODIS: development of an innovative industrial ecosystem for a competitive, diversified, and sustainable naval sector”, with an allocation amounting to over 1.3 million euros.

Shipping is a key sector for global transport, as more than 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea. There is no single solution to the challenges posed by the decarbonisation of maritime transport, but the role of hydrogen will be essential both alone (as a fuel in itself) and as part of the new generation of synthetic fuels.

This project includes research into all the systems and technological elements necessary for the design of a tugboat type vessel propelled by green hydrogen, a zero-emissions ship for which CT will develop the conceptual design, naval architecture calculations, and basic engineering, as well as analysing safety requirements. These are highly demanding tasks with a significant research component, given the absence of applicable regulations, except for guidelines and initial publications from Classification Societies that are beginning to emerge.

CT is increasingly involved in projects related to the decarbonisation process of maritime transport, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company, committed to sustainability and environmental protection, is facing new challenges in shipbuilding, both in terms of design and onboard equipment, to ensure that it remains at the forefront of the industry.

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In this project, the CT team is investigating the use of state-of-the-art Deep Learning technologies to enhance control and gain a deeper understanding of wind energy generation systems known as AWES.

The primary objective here is the creation of a Deep Learning-based control model for the automatic trajectory control of AWE systems, as well as employing these models to understand and characterise the dynamic challenges faced by such systems.

CT has already completed three of the four work packages that were defined, spanning nearly two years of the project’s duration. The remaining aspects include the testing and validation of the developed solution. The project is expected to end in May 2024, and its findings will be presented at the forthcoming Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2024. This event is among the most significant in the sector globally and will be held at Carlos III University in Madrid from 24th to 26th April.

Phase 1: State-of-the-art study and definition of requirements

In this phase, we explored the current state of airborne energy systems and established the requirements for controlling these systems using advanced technologies. Our work revealed a scarcity of existing research in this field, prompting us to adopt a solution that incorporates reinforcement learning and deep neural networks. We also studied similar models to predict wind at high altitudes.

Phase 2: Solution design

Here, we established the technological baselines for addressing the automatic control challenges of airborne wind systems. Utilising a simulator and experimental data, we developed and tested our solutions. Various network architectures were evaluated, and a process for data formatting was defined. In partnership with UC3M, this phase included conducting tests to collect real flight data, later used for training the AI models that control the aircraft.

Phase 3: Solution development

This stage involved implementing and refining the algorithms developed in the previous phase. We focused on creating models for dynamic system characterisation, high-altitude wind prediction, and an automatic controller based on reinforcement learning. These models were trained using both simulated and experimental data. Additionally, we worked on an interface for training and testing these algorithms in a digital environment before their use in the actual system.

Phase 4: Testing and validation

The final phase involved conducting tests both in the simulated environment and on the actual machine. Tests are to be performed between the months of February and May at our flight test centre in Santa Maria de la Alameda. The aim is to evaluate the performance of the controllers that have been developed and to derive valuable insights for improving and refining our airborne wind system.

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The rehabilitation involved the replacement and upgrading of drive parts, and the application of anti-corrosion treatment to the valves. In addition, some of these parts were redesigned to ensure improved valve operation in the decades to come.

Iberdrola relied on CT for different phases of this rehabilitation, from the structural verifications of the original and new elements incorporated, the design and calculation of tools to remove and handle the components, generation of assembly, maintenance and procedures for the rehabilitation, to the generation of new implementation plans and design of new parts.

In terms of technology, the Villarino plant has six reversible sets with a total of 810 megawatts (MW) of power, which on average generate close to 1,200 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year. The plant’s 6 turbines that allow it to move up to 32,000 litres every second, with the highest arch dam in Spain (202 metres) and its 2500 cubic-hectare reservoir made it a milestone in civil engineering when it was built half a century ago.

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ITER consists of a scientific installation rising on a 42-hectare (100 acre) site in southern France, fabrication activities for the ITER machine and systems that are underway all over the globe. The experimental campaign that will be carried out at ITER is crucial to advancing fusion science and preparing the way for the fusion power plants of tomorrow.

We are proud to have contributed over 40.000 hours, and provided a wide range of expert teams involved in the integration, redesign and energizing processes of different installations, as well as in R&D works on the Tokamak’s optical system for visible-infrared observation and CFD calculations tasks related to its cooling system, who worked side by side with reference companies and institutions.

Our activity has been mainly divided in two areas:

Integration and redesign of the substations PBS41 and PBS43. CT’s Electrical Engineering team has been CT has been working with Siemens in order to contribute to Ferrovial’s mission of supplying and operating a 1200 MVA high-voltage network for the whole installation, including two substations and seven transformers.

We started doing the integration and redesign of the existing engineering on the 22 kV and 6,6 kV substations of the American part (PBS43). We have also worked on the complete integration of all the different parts (400 kV, 66 kV, 22 kV and 6,6 kV) in the two huge substations of the project, the American one (PBS43) and the Chinese one (PBS41). We have already energized the substations of the American, 400 kV, 22 kV & 6,6 kV Substation (PBS43) as well as the Chinese 400 kV Substation (PBS41) and delivered all schematics of Chinese Substations (PBS41) .

TOKAMAK (ITER) (2017-2019). CT collaborated with CIEMAT in the mechanical design of the visible and infrared spectrum diagnostics system of the Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. CT also designed the system for assembly and regulation of the optical elements and diagnostics system. During 2016- 2017, CT has had an expert in complex CFD calculations working on Tokamak’s cooling system at the ITER facilities in Cadarache.

Taking part in ITER to be the first fusion device to maintain fusion for long periods of time and to test the integrated technologies, materials, and physics regimes necessary for the commercial production of fusion-based electricity, is a huge challenge, pride and opportunity for CT.

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During this time, we’ve worked in different areas:

• Asset Integration Project (PIA), whose goal is to adapt infrastructure to REE’s quality standards,
• Renovation and Upgrade Project (PRM)
• Upgrading of Network Assets) in the Canary Islands (MAR), which is aimed at adapting the electrical transport infrastructures acquired by Red Eléctrica to its quality standards.

Our teams have also executed turnkey projects for completely new electrical substations for REE, at the different voltage levels and in the different phases, from processing and permits, civil works, to electromechanical assembly, protection and control, commissioning and communications.

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• Architecture and civil works: structure, foundations and enclosure of the substation building, access roads, drainage studies, switchgear foundations, conduits and ditches, etc.
• Electrical-Mechanical Engineering: Cables, high and medium voltage equipment, equipment structures, power transformer, reactive compensation equipment, auxiliary services, outdoor and indoor lighting, etc.
• Protection and Control: Single-line and developed diagrams, communications, interconnections, etc.
• Studies: Coordination studies for isolation, short circuit, selectivity of protections, earths, etc.

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As part of the 2017-2019 Substation Engineering framework agreement, CT has collaborated with Unión Fenosa Distribución, part of the Naturgy Group on different new substations development. The CT teams have carried out their work in the highly varied disciplines involved in this type of installations: Electrical-Mechanical Engineering, Protection and Control, Building and Architecture, Fire Protection, and Cooling.

• Electrical-Mechanical Engineering.

Depending on the final nature of the service, the scope of this service covers the following activities:

• Basic Engineering: Basic definition of the installation, mainly by drawing up the general implementation plan, single line drawings, measurements and budget
• Technical-Administrative Project.
• Electrical-Mechanical Construction Project: Complete project or requested by independent sections, assembly specifications, each with its measurements and plans.
• Preparation of as-built plans of the Construction project: civil works in outdoor installations, civil construction work and electromechanical assembly plans.
• Health and Safety Study: Report, Specific terms and conditions, technical risk data sheets and preventive measures, technical sheets of the general terms and conditions, and Plans.
• Miscellaneous: Studies and Calculations. Review of Technical Documentation.

• Protection and Control Engineering

This section includes the detailed electrical design, protection and control schemes, control and power interconnection and substation equipment, as well as calculations and the associated communications, remote control and metering interactions, among others:

• Design and drafting of the control, metering, protection and communications project.
• Analysis and cost estimation of the installation and initial data.
• Requesting the necessary initial data depending on the installation.
• Collection of information on the installations.
• Analysis of compatibility with existing protection.
• Selection and sizing of control and low voltage power cables.
• Preparation of interconnection diagrams and cable lists and the interface with existing equipment and panels (if applicable).
• Selection and sizing of centralisation boxes and components.
• Plans and design documentation.
• Technical support for the procurement of supplies, if necessary.
• Management of the documentation generated using the corporate systems so that it is perfectly registered in accordance with the Group’s quality standards.

The technical documentation includes the documentation needed to contract the execution and commissioning of the works that will include the following, among other documents:

• Protection and control engineering, metering, communications and remote control.
• Modification of the substation’s existing schematics.
• Schematics developed for protection, control, metering, communications and the auxiliary services system.
• Specification of equipment:
• Detailed technical specification
• Technical sheet
• Report and calculations for the selection and sizing of control and power cables.
• Wiring and connection schematics.
• As-Built plans after the completion of the works

• Civil works and architecture service.

This section includes the specific definition of the scope of the Civil Engineering, Architecture and a glossary of general concepts.

• Initial design: specific definition of the scope of the Architecture units, Civil Engineering and a glossary of general concepts.
• Separate Civil Works Sections and Basic Architecture Project
• Estimated Cost Report
• Civil works construction project and architectural execution project:
• Reports and Annexes: calculation reports, specifications and necessary annexes include the quantitative and qualitative definition of form.
• Detailed design: complete development of detailed engineering, includes all of the tasks to design, calculate and define the construction solutions.
• Plans: graphic documentation that cover the geometric, quantitative and qualitative definition of the elements to be built
• Other services

• Review of transformer plans through preliminary IPPs: dimension plan, transport plan, nameplate, valve plate, electrical diagrams and electrical diagrams of the changer.
• Design and drafting of the Cooling project.
• Fire Protection.

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Our team has prepared the detailed engineering for the protection and control for substations with General Electric’s Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS). We have extensive experience in engineering with this type of technology, for newly built electrical substations and also in the overhaul and expansion of the existing substations of the different Spanish electricity companies (REE, UDF, IBERDROLA, ENEL, NATURGY), for all voltage levels (66kV, 132kV, 220kV, 400kV) and both indoor and outdoor installations.

The work done with this type of GIS Substations includes new homologation projects for those same electric companies, as well as the addition of conduit sections or switchgear with the new g³ (Green Gas for Grid) , a “green” technology that is a breakthrough alternative technology to SF6, which helps reduce the carbon footprint. Offering the same technical performances, dimensions and safety as SF₆, g³ products are superior in that they reduce drastically Global Warming Potential (GWP).

MOBILE GAS-INSULATED SUBSTATIONS

Some of the different projects involving mobile substations carried out for GE include the execution of 10 mobile containers for the Red Eléctrica Española as the end customer. The limited space of the mobile substation – whether in a container or on a mobile platform – poses a challenge for the design and installation of the GIS and the implementation of all of the necessary equipment, as well as its commissioning at any point in the power grid.

The teams that worked together from our offices and at the customer’s facilities, participated in all phases of the project, preparing the design and full development of the electrical diagrams of the Local Control Cabinet (LCC). We also developed a connectorised solution between the cabinets which enables to speed up commissioning when used outside the container.

One of these mobile stations was developed entirely with the SF6-alternative gas (g³), and it is the first one in Spain to use this technology, marking a big step forward towards sustainability because it helps to greatly reduce the carbon footprint.

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The offshore windfarm sector is becoming more important amongst renewable energies, especially in Europe and is also a growing sector in both Asia and the United States. At present the majority of offshore windfarms, such as the recently built Wikinger project in the Baltic Sea, are marine wind generators anchored to the seabed by means of jackets, which are platforms that the generators rest on. The towers are only installed in shallow waters (max. depth 50-60 mts.) which limits development in the sector

This investigation Project, called Flow, aims to provide a solution by developing a floating generator and life size model to enable the construction of offshore windfarms in deeper waters. The project handles all the different phases of design engineering, the details and the manufacturing of a floating life size model with the aim to establishing the Basque country at the forefront of this strategic sector and boost the capabilities of Basque companies in the entire chain of supplies for the floating windfarm sector.

The consortium led by Nautilus includes as partners Iberdrola Renovables, the Shipyards Murueta, Nervión Industries, Navacel, Vicinay, CT, Ormazabal, NEM Solutions, Erreka, HWS Concrete Towers, Uniportbilbao, Foro Marítimo Vasco and the Cluster de Energía. It also incorporates Tecnalia, IK4- Ikerlan, Vicinay Marine Innovation and OCT as agents for the Basque network of Science Technology and Innovation (RVCTI).

CT has more than 15 years’ experience in the wind sector in accomplishing the testing of components, the validation of turbines and wind generators, detailed engineering and structures as well as other activities.

The Flow Project has been financed by the Department for Economic Development and infrastructures of the Basque government (the HAZITEK program) and also by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). All the information about the project can found at the following website: http://www.clusterenergia.com/flow .

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The complex will be able to produce 1,766 GWh per year, enough to satisfy the energy needs of the neighboring municipalities and the cities of Braga and Guimarães (440,000 homes). In addition, this large renewable infrastructure will have enough storage capacity to serve 11 million people for an entire day. Thanks to this project, the emission of 1.2 million CO2 per year will be avoided.

And that’s where CT comes in. For the start-up of the 3 power plants, being a large-scale project with a start-up duration of 5 years, Iberdrola requires a team with the technical capacity and personnel to undertake a wide variety of activities.

CT has contributed more than 28,000 hours, in addition to multidisciplinary teams working on site and remotely during electrical engineering work at the service of a team led by Iberdrola. On the one hand, we collaborate on a service package consisting of quality control and delimitation with ePlan. On the other hand, for two of its plants – Gouvães (880 MW) and Alto Tâmega (160 MW) -, our engineers contribute to the design of the telecommunications network, control system (SCADA), commissioning process, related protection with the main elements such as turbine and transformers, and integration of all systems to simulate operation in the event of a failure.

We have been collaborating with Iberdrola for more than 5 years in the development of control engineering for hydroelectric plants, however, this project is iconic for its unique characteristics and unprecedented size. The Gouvães exploitation, the most relevant of the three, includes a pumping station and an upper reservoir (Insertar video de cómo funciona una central de bombeo, bibliografía). It has four generators totaling 880 MW and which are housed in an underground cavern with a volume equivalent to 25 Olympic swimming pools. This plant is reversible, that is, it allows water from the Daivões reservoir to be stored in the Gouvães reservoir, taking advantage of the difference in elevation of more than 650 meters between the two. In this way, it will be possible to pump energy when there is excess production, for example, at night, and recover it when necessary, during the day.

The opportunity to participate in this project is the result of our capabilities and extensive experience in similar projects carried out in Spain, such as CH La Muela, CH Aldeávila and CH Cortijo, among others.

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