LEAP-RE, the research and innovation partnership between the European Union and the African Union in renewable energy, has just announced the 13 winners of its call for collaborative projects.
LEMTA is one of the selected proposals with its MG-FARM project “Intelligent autonomous microgrids as a solution for the electrification of farms”, led by Serge Pierfederici, a teacher-researcher from the laboratory, alongside Lotfi Baghli, a teacher-researcher from GREEN:
Algeria and Morocco have ambitious plans to modernise the agricultural sector in order to ensure food security and increase and diversify exports. Due to the important roles of energy and water in agricultural development, the achievement of these goals depends heavily on sustainable development. This project concerns the development of smart micro-grids based on renewable energy to support the sustainable development of the three sectors: energy, water and agriculture.
The main objective is to adapt the system to the load profile and storage strategies of modern and sustainable agricultural practices and to meet typical needs such as pumping, irrigation and cooling. In addition, the process between electricity and water generation, distribution and storage will be optimised, for example by identifying other sources of renewable energy and water, but also by using reservoirs and cooling chambers as storage facilities.
The possibilities for local use of surplus energy produced in the microgrid during the different seasons, for example in neighbouring farms or homes, will be explored as well as the ideal conditions for connection to the national grid. This would allow the injection of power or the implementation of different grid services (e.g. restoration of grid frequency or voltage) on demand using a buffer storage system.
LEAP-RE (Long-term Europe-Africa Partnership on Renewable Energy), co-funded by the European Union (EU) under Horizon 2020, aims to increase the use of renewable energy through a balanced mix of research, demonstration and technology transfer projects on both continents.
Following the Call for Proposals launched in January 2021, LEAP-RE received 124 applications. Only 36 were shortlisted and the MG-FARM project is among the proposals selected for funding!