APRAM – Administration of Ports of the Autonomous Region of Madeira is part of the SHIFT to Direct Current (SHIFT2DC) research project, which received funding of more than 11 million euros, within the scope of the Horizon Europe Program.
“SHIFT2DC’s main objective is to create more intelligent, efficient and sustainable energy infrastructures, through direct current (DC) solutions. This project, led by INESC-ID (Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering, Research and Development ), intends to promote economic and sustainable energy alternatives, carrying out detailed analyzes to ensure viability, cost-benefit, life cycle and environmental impact”, explains APRAM through a press release.
The Port of Funchal is one of the four locations chosen and the only one in Portugal, in partnership with the Madeira Electricity Company, test medium and low voltage DC solutions in a real scenario, with the other demonstrators being in Germany (Datacenter and Industry) and in France (Buildings).
“Our participation in this project demonstrates APRAM’s commitment and commitment to finding more efficient, sustainable and intelligent energy solutions for Madeira’s port infrastructure and equipment”, says Paula Cabaço, president of the APRAM Board of Directors.
And he concludes: “As this is a project of international dimension, the fact that APRAM was chosen to be one of the four test sites, in a real context, shows that we are on the right track.”
The project coordinator, Hugo Morais, from INESC-ID, highlights that “tests and validations in the real world are actually one of the most exciting aspects of the SHIFT2DC project. This will allow the evaluation of methodologies and control tools, as well as control conditions implementation for medium voltage and low voltage DC systems. In each demonstrator, the project will highlight the advantages of DC solutions compared to traditional alternating current solutions.”
SHIFT2DC will last 42 months, bringing together a group of more than 30 partners from 12 countries: Germany, Belgium, Spain, Estonia, France, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and, of course, Portugal.