Integration of these innovative components with the HYBUILD system as a wholewas done in the second half of the project. Definitions of the operating modes and the high-level optimization that manage both the thermal and electric sub-systems wisere developed. This includes definition and first use case testing of a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm capable of managing the Mediterranean system.
For the three demo sites, pre-intervention monitoring started earlier in the project and the data was used later. In addition, definitions of the KPIs, scenarios and critical parameters to be assessed in the post-intervention analysis were made and included in the project deliverables.
In the second half of the project the main activities were focused on the installation of the three demos sites and its commissioning.
In Langewang demo the installation and commissioning occurred during late 2020. Fine tuning of the installation was carried out during the first semester of 2021, leading to a fully operative demo by summer 2021. In March 2022, after analysing monitored data, it was discovered that the system was not working as expected. In particular, the management of the RPW-HEX discharge was not the one foreseen and the RPW-HEX was basically never fully discharged. Then the control logic was revised.
In Almatret demo site, the installation of the main components was finished in July 2021. The full system commissioning couldn´t take place due several issues detected on some system components such as the Fresnel collectors and the electric subsystem. Finally, after the mentioned issues were solved, a failure in the motors of the Fresnel solar collectors was detected, which prevented the correct movement of the mirrors that concentrate solar radiation on the collector’s receiver. Therefore, the three motors were replaced and the system at the Almatret demo site is currently ready for the testing campaign.
In Aglantzia demo site the installation of the HYBUILD system was carried out during summer 2021, and the commissioning of the system was finalized by the third week of March 2022 as several issues occurred during the process. The approval for an exception for the HYBUILD system to connect to the grid was only approved by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus in mid-November. After that, a problem with the RPW-HEX was found out. Due to the lack of time to repair it, the consortium decided to by-pass the RPW-HEX and commission the system without it.
During the third reporting period the 19 deliverables remaining were submitted.In para llel to these activities, the dissemination, communication and exploitation plans of the project were delivered. Their implementation was carried out in a very satisfactory way during all the project, achieving KPIs in number of publications, events, and communication activities higher than expected.