Sunday September 6th, it was a historic experience, with the first islanding of a low voltage district in Carros (Southern France). The 1st street district in the industrial area was at several occasions disconnected from the main grid and temporarily powered solely by solar panels and a storage system (SOCOMEC power converter system and SAFT lithium -ion battery) before to be synchronized again to the main grid. SOCOMEC, ERDF and SAFT engineers were able to test on the field the islanding solutions deployed in June at Concept Grid, an experimental platform of EDF R & D.

The 1st street district is composed of commercial and industrial customers, such as a postal distribution center, and has three large photovoltaic generation facilities. It is important to note that this area presents favorable conditions for islanding since the installed photovoltaic capacity is quite close to the consumption at certain times of the year, which is a desirable criterion for developing long term islanding (several hours).

Sunday the experiment consisted in validating on the field the sequences of islanding and the behavior of photovoltaic panels: in this context, the sequences have been deliberately shortened (up to 30 minutes). These sequences which resulted in a success allow for validating the solution on a real grid.

Scheduled for October, the next step is to extend the duration of islanding (4 hours minimum) and to island on a weekday, when consumption is higher. This successful experiment opens up development opportunities for areas where the upstream power supply is weak (such as islands or at an international scale), and which drive investment for such equipments.

Nice Grid project:

Nice Grid is a smart solar district pilot project conducted in the southern French town of Carros, conducted by ERDF and funded by ADEME, in which up to several hundred of residential and business customers will participate. nke Watteco provides an electric heater solution tool via the Linky meter, which contributes to the decrease in electricity demand during peak periods.

Sources: Nice Grid