INESC TEC – INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, TECNOLOGIA E CIENCIA

INESC TEC is a private non-profit research association, with Public Interest status, dedicated to scientific research and technological development, technology transfer, advanced consulting and training, and pre-incubation of new technology-based companies.

Present in six sites in the cities of Porto (headquarters), Braga and Vila Real, and with more than 800 researchers, INESC TEC acts from knowledge generation to science-based innovation, and performs collaboratively in search for a more sustainable, responsible, and improved world. 

The primary goal of INESC TEC is to exceed performance in research, while considering its social, environmental, and economic impact, with a commitment to the scientific and technological contribution to foster pervasive intelligence. As so, INESC TEC endeavours to be a relevant international player in Science and Technology in eight scientific domains, Artificial Intelligence, Bioengineering, Communications, Computer Science and Engineering, Photonics, Power and Energy Systems, Robotics and Systems Engineering and Management. Being an institution that operates at the interface between the academic and business worlds, bringing academia, companies, public administration, and society closer together, INESC TEC generates new knowledge as part of its research, and leverages that knowledge in technology transfer projects, seeking impact through both value creation and social relevance.

INESC TEC has a large experience in technical consultancy activities and R&D EU-funded projects related with the security assessment of isolated and interconnected power systems aiming for a large share integration of renewable power sources. The INESC TEC team has performed many technical consultancy activities, involving the static and dynamic analysis of power systems, for the connection of renewable power sources, mainly wind and solar, to the continental and isolated power grids and, namely, for the definition of grid connection requirements for generation facilities in the Portuguese islands. INESC TEC was involved in the update of the grid code for Madeira Island. This update was performed in 2019, defining the technical conditions for connecting new electricity generating facilities to the electrical grids of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, from micro-generation to MW-scale power units, using various primary energy sources and given particular attention to installations that exploit wind and solar energy.

In the case of Graciosa Island, INESC TEC was involved in the commissioning of the hybrid power plant that is currently in operation, since August 2019, combining a battery energy storage system, together with a wind farm and a solar PV power plant. Within this work, INESC TEC worked on the dynamic stability studies required to validate the grid connection requirements for this hybrid power plant.