February 2023

FOREWORD 

For a long time now, there has been a drive to integrate renewables into the electricity networks. And now the energy crisis is biting as we go through winter, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine. In addition to the EU's Green Deal, there is now its REPower EU roadmap to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and to accelerate the energy transition. But maybe the positive side to this scenario is heightened awareness across the board about energy efficiency and the need to go green. At TIGON, we're contributing to this endeavour with our design and testing of microgrid solutions. 

We're now two years into our four-year project and we're moving forward in many areas.

The project's software and hardware components are being finalised and set up at the two main demo sites. Once this is done, we will be well on our way to the actual demonstration phase which will start next year. We've also been working on business models and routes to market for the eight key exploitable results. 

In parallel, cooperation has continued with a fellow project – HYPERRIDE – which recently held a workshop at one of their own demo sites. The project bears many similarities with TIGON but it focuses more on the operation of microgrids and on commercial products already available. Another project, SSTAR, will follow our work and we will share information and lessons with them. It started this year and specialises in solid-state transformer technology. 

As the project unfolds, we have nurtured ties with CIRED. Jesús Muñoz, TIGON lead researcher, belongs to the working group “DC and hybrid AC/DC distribution networks integration” (WG 2021-1). There have been several working group meetings in order to share experiences regarding different demo sites. Jesús has presented Tigon's works and reaction has been positive and we're pleased with the high level of interest. Further works have been proposed to move forward with the standardisation of DC and hybrid AC/DC distribution networks. 

In this issue, we share an article about cybersecurity and grids, two technical papers from the project team and our usual brief news from the last few months. 

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Best wishes,

The TIGON team