Elewit, through its corporate venture capital (CVC), invests in the capital of early stage technology-based startups that, due to their activity, are of interest as a lever for the exploration of new technology-based businesses and have a strategic fit in the field of energy transition and telecommunications. With these investments, the company pursues a dual objective: on the one hand, technological surveillance and incorporation of new technologies into the group, carrying out projects and proofs of concept with its CVC investees, and on the other hand, obtaining a financial return on the investment made.

HESStec is one of Elewit's main bets, a company with which, after the investment, three innovation projects have been carried out, focused on the development of energy storage. Firstly, the so-called hybridization of storage and renewables project (RES+) and the hybrid storage with grid-forming control project (INERTIA+) were developed, demonstrating the potential and benefits of energy storage and management systems. And, due to the successful results of these projects, they have given rise to the hybrid storage project for synchronous grid-forming (ViSync), which is still active and seeks to transform the way in which renewable energies are integrated into our electricity grids.

Storage and renewables hybridization project (RES+)

During the RES+ project developed by HESStec together with Red Eléctrica and Acciona, a hybrid storage system was implemented in a renewable plant in order to improve its stability, operation and reliability. The project focused on the analysis and characterization of the energy management system operating on a hybrid storage system to support the integration of renewables into the grid and received the Innovation of the Year Award in the framework of RENMAD Storage 2023 held in Toledo.

This system was developed from the retrofit of an Acciona renewable generation plant that had an electrochemical storage system that was complemented with power electronics equipment, highly responsive energy storage and energy management systems for the entire facility. In the RES+ project, HESStec integrated both the InMS-uGrid management and control system and an FS4G solution based on ultracapacitors with 250 kW of power and 0.57 kWh of installed energy.

Some of the main conclusions of the RES+ project were:

• Hybrid storage reduces the thermal stress on the battery and provides faster dynamic response.
• Hybrid solutions increase battery availability and capacity, improving the ability of these plants to provide system services and eventually their economic profitability.
• The symmetry of the UCAPS charge/discharge rate increases the ability to respond to power requirements without degradation problems.