The CDTI backs Capital Energy’s AliCE smart storage project
The purpose of this initiative is to perfect the management of this technology, to increase the reliability and quality of the electricity supply
- The company will develop a tool that will optimise the size and operation of the storage systems to, among other matters, efficiently respond to the peaks in electricity consumption.
- AliCE, which will be completed by the end of the first semester in 2023, also has the collaboration of technological and research institutions such as IKERLAN -from the Mondragon group- and IMDEA Energía -incorporated by the Government of the Community of Madrid-.
- Capital Energy promotes various R+D+i projects regarding energy storage, such as SICEH, and collaborates with major companies in this sector, such as HESStec.
Madrid, 6th August 2021.- Capital Energy, a Spanish energy company founded in 2002 with the aim of becoming the first vertically-integrated 100%-renewable energy operator on the Iberian Peninsula, has again proven the major role that the innovation-green and fair energy transition combination plays in its strategy.
The company has obtained support from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) for its smart storage project AliCE, with an initial budget of €900,000, of which the CDTI will fund over 60%. The purpose of this R+D+i initiative, which will be completed by the end of the first half of 2023, is to perfect the management of this technology in its various areas of application, both regarding end user consumption (residential and industrial) and the integration of renewable energy into the grid, thus strengthening the quality and safety of the electricity supply.
To this end, Capital Energy will develop, with the collaboration of renowned technological and research centres such as IKERLAN -belonging to the Mondragon group- and IMDEA Energía -incorporated by the Government of the Community of Madrid-, a tool that will optimise the size and operation of storage systems to, among other aspects, efficiently respond to the peaks in electricity consumption. By compiling and analysing the data obtained, we seek to collaborate with establishing the regulatory bases for using storage in the residential and industrial, renewable generation, and grid areas.
Innovation and new technologies to transform the energy sector
Capital Energy promotes innovative solutions that contribute to decarbonising the current energy model and provide stability for the electricity grid. Therefore, the company is boosting, with the collaboration of universities, research centres, technological enterprises and companies, various R+D+i projects linked to disruptive technologies that will contribute to achieving this goal.
Regarding storage, last year the company implemented the project Storage in Capital Energy Headquarters (SICEH), that analyses the business model of this technology at a residential and commercial level, the main milestone of which was the installation of batteries in the Oviedo, Albacete and Madrid offices. Additionally and in terms of corporate cooperation, we have the participation of Capital Energy Quantum, the corporate venturing section of the group, in the funding round held in May by HESStec, a leading company in the development of energy management systems and hybrid storage solutions.
As for green hydrogen, another of the pillars required to achieve the decarbonisation of the economy, Capital Energy has launched, along with eight European partners in the research and industry sectors, the ambitious Prometeo initiative, which aims to develop an innovative high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis prototype that will use heat and solar energy to continuously produce this renewable gas. Coordinated by the Agencia Nacional Italiana para las Nuevas Tecnologías, la Energía y el Desarrollo Económico Sostenible (ENEA) (Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), with a duration of three and a half years, Prometeo has funding of €2.5 million, provided by the public-private platform Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
A portfolio of more than 35 GW on the Iberian Peninsula
In line with its commitment to a green and fair energy transition, Capital Energy currently has a portfolio of wind and solar projects in the Iberian Peninsula with around 35 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, of which more than 8.7 GW have already received network access grants.
Thanks to the launch of its retail arm in the final quarter of 2020, Capital Energy reached its strategic aim of being present on the entire renewable energy value chain: from development, where, given its 20-year history, the Company has a consolidated position, to construction, production, storage, operation and supply.
The aim of the Company, which has more than 385 employees distributed throughout 15 offices in Spain and Portugal, is to deliver to the end consumer the 100%-renewable energy that it is already producing at its facilities.