MEET OUR PARTNERS
The HVDC4ISLANDS consortium consists of six research and three industrial partners.
IMDEA Energy (Madrid, Spain)
IMDEA Energy Institute (IME) was created by the regional Government of Community of Madrid’ with the aim of promoting energy-related R&D activities that contribute to addressing global challenges in energy sustainability. Electrical Systems Unit specializes in research related to stability aspects of future power AC and DC networks, battery storage applications and control of power converters in grid and microgrid applications. They also bring to the consortium extensive experience in real-time simulation tools, grid-code compliance procedures and grid control methods.
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RWTH Aachen University (Aachen, Germany)
RWTH Aachen University, through the Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems within the E.ON Energy Research Center, specializes in power system development. In Work Package 5, Task 1, RWTH is leading the work on methods for protection (re-)configuration during HVDC system expansion, focusing on adaptive protection strategies that enable secure integration of hybrid AC/DC systems and renewable energy.
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ICCS-NTUA (Athens, Greece)
The Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) is linked to the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), the oldest and most prestigious educational institution of Greece in the field of technology. It is the research host of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Founded in 1989, ICCS-NTUA aims to support the performance of top-quality research, development activities and the provision of scientific services to private and public bodies. SmartRUE, a Research Group of ICCS-NTUA that belongs to the Electric Energy Systems Laboratory (EESL) of ECE, focuses on research and technology development in the area of Smart Grids. SmartRUE has extensive experience in Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) validation techniques and will leverage the advanced HIL platform of EESL to experimentally validate advanced control, stability, and protection algorithms for HVDC and hybrid AC/DC grid architectures.
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UCC-MAREI (Cork, Ireland)
The MaREI Centre of Energy, Climate and Marine, hosted at University College Cork, is the Research Ireland (RI) centre of excellence in Energy, Climate and Marine research in Ireland. The MaREI Centre includes 13 Universities, Third Level Institutes and Research Organisations, with more than 250 researchers across Ireland and 103 industrial partners. MaREI leads Work Package 6 (WP6) of HVDC4ISLANDS. WP6 will demonstrate the economic value of the flexibility and reconfigurability of HVDC and hybrid DC/AC energy islands over conventional point-to-point HVDC solutions. Detailed simulations of future European energy markets will be carried out using real-world data from the partner countries and case studies of potential future HVDC energy island developments.
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AIT (Wien, Austria)
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria's largest non-university research institution. With its seven Centers, AIT regards itself as a highly specialized research and development partner for industry and concerns itself with the key infrastructure topics of the future. AIT provides extensive knowledge on power grids and the impact of inverter-based generation. In the scope of the project, AIT will contribute towards the design of grid-forming controllers, the analysis of stability studies, and development of grid restoration strategies.
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SINTEF Energy Research (Trondheim, Norway)
SINTEF Energy Research (SER) is part of the SINTEF Group, one of Europe’s largest independent research organizations and a Norwegian non-profit foundation. SER conducts applied research in power generation, conversion, transmission, distribution, and energy use. Salvatore D’Arco from SER leads Work Package 4 (WP4), with contributions from his team members on Tasks 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. WP4 focuses on optimizing multi-vector energy islands by integrating offshore renewables, battery storage, and hydrogen systems, in collaboration with HYSTAR, SUBSEA7, AIT, and IME. The work includes modeling and simulation of systems combining renewable generation, batteries, and power-to-X technologies.
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SUBSEA 7 NORWAY AS
Subsea 7 is a global leader in offshore projects and services for the evolving energy industry. We create sustainable value by being the industry’s partner and employer of choice in delivering efficient offshore solutions. Our operations span five decades with over 1000+ completed projects. We work in all water depths across energy hubs, leveraging our engineering expertise, alliances, and specialist technologies. We have a strong track record of safe and reliable delivery, making us a trusted contractor in oil, gas, and renewable energy markets. Subsea 7 and Seaway 7 aim to be top-tier providers in fixed and floating offshore wind by 2035, supporting growth in offshore wind capabilities through Xodus and 4 Subsea. Subsea7 is pleased to be an industry partner in the CET HVDC4ISLANDS project, contributing its offshore wind and construction expertise, along with Offshore Energy Storage technology.
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Hystar (Høvik, Norway)
Hystar is a high-tech company specializing in ultra-efficient PEM electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen from water electrolysis. Hystar develops and manufactures the world’s most efficient PEM electrolysers, making the production of hydrogen from renewable electricity significantly more affordable and thereby, more accessible. Green hydrogen is the key to making the energy transition happen. As a highly efficient energy carrier, green hydrogen has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emission across many applications. At the moment, Hystar has annual production capacity of 100 MW and is currently ramping up to future 4.5 GW automated factory.
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Fronius (Wels, Austria)
Over 7000 employees worldwide, a current export share of 89 percent, and 1366 active patents: that’s us, that’s Fronius. Founded in 1945 as a regional one-man operation, we are now a global player - a fact that is impressively demonstrated by our 37 international subsidiaries and our network of sales partners in more than 60 countries. And yet, at our core, we are still a family-owned company from Austria, active in photovoltaics, welding, and battery charging technology.
With more than 30 years of experience in photovoltaics, Fronius brings an industrial perspective to small island grids and the challenges they face in combination with grid forming in HVDC4ISLANDS.