Bulgaria

In Albena, Bulgaria, centralised electrical energy storage will be installed at a transformer substation that supplies two hotels, including restaurants, a spa centre and swimming pools.

Furthermore, on the hotel rooftop a PV system will be installed in order to cover the daily peak electricity consumption. Full energy monitoring structure is already installed at the site. The hotel has its own solar thermal station installed.

• The PV system will cover most of the daily electricity demand. As the daily electricity load curve is quite similar to the power generation profile, a PV system gives the opportunity to reduce the used grid peak power and increase the percentage of used renewable energy.
• Electricity energy storage will be installed in order to balance the power generation of the PV system, as well as to store surplus energy for evening peak power demand ensuring constant grid load.
  • With energy storage, local peak power loads at the transformer station will be avoided, and the power quality and system reliability will be improved.
  • A local energy power balance between bought energy and actual consumed energy will be available. In that case costs for imbalance will be avoided.

The Integrated INVADE platform will enable the combination of a PV System, Solar thermal system and battery storage that will essentially increase the share of renewable energy in the hotel sector. This will utilise the enormous potential of solar energy for summer resorts. The energy consumption and CO2 emissions will be reduced.

Pilot description

A new Photovoltaic system will be installed, protection and cables leading to the main transformer board. The battery storage system with suitable inverters, protection and battery management system will be situated at the transformer substation site. Full energy monitoring system consisting of power meters and software produced by Schneider Electric is already functioning on site.

Stakeholders involved are the hotel owners. After the successful implementation of the project, the pilot model will be rolled out to the other hotels in Albena. The model will also be presented to other tourist resorts as an example of energy and financial efficiency.

The added value can be expressed by:

• Increased share of renewable energy for self-consumption reducing energy costs for the owner, reducing CO2 emissions, and reducing grid costs for the local DSO.
• A working model for utilising the domestic potential of solar energy in tourist services by combining solar electrical and solar thermal power generation.
• Experience in modern energy management: Fully functioning demand side management on consumer site will be available. This will lead to better exploitation of energy infrastructures and reduce power peak consumption. Better reliability of the grid as well as reduced voltage drop will decrease energy network losses.