Iberdrola is a multinational group leading the energy sector: the company produces and supplies electricity to some 100 million people in the countries in which it operates. The company has become the leader in clean energy as the first renewable producer amongst European utilities and the cleanest power company in the USA, with almost zero emissions.
Project 1: Support the development of Climate Change Program for Neoenergia. In order to do so, work on the following activities:
- To propose mitigation and adaptation initiatives based on Iberdrola's diagnosis of vulnerabilities and climate risks in respect to Neoenergia's enterprises.
- To boost the Sustainable Mobility Plan for Neoenergia by identifying opportunities on electric mobility (internal and external).
- Develop a digital platform to measure and manage the company's CO2 emissions (eg. fleet)
Project 2: Due to expansion of Telecommunications used in the electric network grid, to provide supervision and control of equipment, new possibilities came up, with Software to control and configure different brands and models remotely. Distribution Network Automation followed the same tendency, were Digital radios and 3/4G Modems are been used to supervise and control Switchgears and others equipment remotely by Operation’s Center, OC, located usually, far from the installed point. With these telecom’s equipment is possible to remotely access equipment by Engineering and for example, change configuration’s parameters (Protection Values). But to do that, manufactures need to provide their communication protocol in order the Software’s Development Factories could integrate on their system. Some suppliers does not provide this documentation, requiring hours of engineering to understand those protocols and develop tools or APIs able to handle this configuration communication. Looking at this scenario, Neoenergia has identified a project opportunity to perform Reverse engineering in a Switchgear which is one of the most used in the field, which does not have integration with IED system, already in use in the Iberdrola sites, and develop a tool or an API able to remotely communicate with Switchgear control relay and make the modification.
Project 3: Neoenergia, part of Iberdrola Group, is a Brazilian electricity company leader in Latin America. Neoenergia is the biggest private power company in number of clients. Based in Rio de Janeiro state. Working areas: Distribution, Transmission, Generation, Renewable and Commercialization. Carry out a series of studies on the expansion of Brazilian generation capacity, in particular based on reversible hydroelectric power plants with. The project will focus on the development of a tool to carry out cost-benefit analysis, technical solutions and regulatory matters to promote such expansion projects.
Project 4: Technical Study to update the SCADA System of Neoenergia Generation and Grid Operation Center.
- Develop technical studies together with the operation and engineering teams to identify the best technological solution to update the SCADA System (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System) of Neoenergia Operation Center located in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil;
- Search the best alternatives to a shadow operation center;
- Benchmark the best practices adopted by Operation Centers of other companies;
- Develop and review technical specifications for new equipment and systems;
- Participate on the integration of new generation and transmission line projects into the Operation Center;
- Learn about the best practices of Operation Centers, such as pre operation and planning, real time operation, post operation and key performance indicators.
Project 5: Carry out studies to develop the installation of floating photovoltaic (FPV) on hydroelectric power plants reservoirs, to maximize the use of resources. FPVs will be combined with existing Neoenergia hydropower dams to create powerful energy generating hybrid systems, which will improve its installed power capacity in order to generate more energy, answer peak load demand and increase economical benefits in an environmentally friendly way. With the help of FPVs, the project combines renewable energy sources, solar and hydropower, into a more powerful and clean source of synergy.
Interested? Send an email with subject ‘Iberdrola Summer 2019’ to mit-brazil@mit.edu attaching your resume. Please do this, even if you already applied to the Brazil program through the MISTI Portal. The next step will be a conversation with the MIT-Brazil program Manager.
