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Hangzhou

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts21
Sources reviewed7
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

This is the NEDO-Hangzhou Dianzi University high-PV microgrid demonstration at the university's Xiasha campus in Hangzhou, China. Completed in September/October 2008, it paired 120 kW of rooftop PV with a 120 kW diesel generator, battery storage, a 100 kW electric-double-layer capacitor, and multiple power-quality devices to supply two teaching buildings in grid-connected and islanded modes. Credible technical sources identify the disputed 50 kW component as lead-acid storage, not a fuel cell.

Research status
The formal China demonstration ran during Japanese fiscal years 2007-2009 and was evaluated as completed by NEDO in 2010. A 2022 profile of a university researcher still described the campus equipment, but no current operating report, generation data, maintenance status, or explicit decommissioning notice was found. The safe current classification is completed research demonstration with physical-system status unknown, not a verified continuously operating commercial microgrid.
Historical classification
University
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
30.28643, 120.14064
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Hangzhou?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Hangzhou Dianzi University

Host university, research partner, and load-site owner at the Xiasha campus. [4][5][7]

Organization

National Development and Reform Commission and Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission

Chinese national/provincial counterpart organizations identified in the published project history. [5]

Organization

NDRC

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

NEDO

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)

Japanese government sponsor and evaluator of the international cooperative demonstration. [3][4]

Organization

Shimizu Corporation

Japanese project builder/integrator and co-research organization for the microgrid and high-PV grid-stabilization controls. [4][5]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
120 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
120 [1]
KW Fuel Cell
50 [1]
Storage
150 kW Capacitor and Batteries [1]
Solar PV
120 kW rooftop array; 50% of the 240 kW generation nameplate [4][5]
Diesel generation
120 kW [4][5]
Total generation capacity
240 kW (120 kW PV plus 120 kW diesel); storage power is not counted as generation nameplate in the participant presentation [4]
Hybrid storage
100 kW electric-double-layer capacitor plus lead-acid battery storage. A 2014 review gives 50 kW for the battery, while the 2010 participant diagram appears to label the battery 100 kW x 0.5 h; the underlying project documents reviewed do not reconcile the two labels. [4][5]
Demonstration period
China university-site work ran Japanese FY2007-FY2009; the system was completed by the end of September 2008 and publicly launched in October 2008 [3][4][6]
Fuel-cell capacity
None established. The credible NEDO/participant/review configurations list PV, diesel, lead-acid storage, and an EDLC but no fuel cell; the legacy 50 kW fuel-cell label is a likely classification error. [3][4][5]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Solar PV array

Model not publicly disclosed

120 kW installed on the roofs of teaching buildings. Public sources reviewed do not disclose module or inverter manufacturers/models. [4][7]

02

Diesel generator

Model not publicly disclosed

120 kW dispatchable source used for grid-connected and island-mode balance/frequency support. Manufacturer and model are not identified. [4][5]

03

Fast storage

Model not publicly disclosed

100 kW electric-double-layer capacitor used for rapid load/renewable fluctuation compensation; product manufacturer, energy capacity, and model are not disclosed. [4][5]

04

Battery storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Lead-acid battery used for slower energy balancing. Published power/energy labels conflict, so neither a 50 kW nor 50 kWh figure is converted into an assumed definitive current rating. [4][5]

05

Power-quality equipment

Model not publicly disclosed

Dynamic/power-quality regulator, voltage-dip compensator, disturbance-producing test device, high- and low-voltage switchboards, supply-demand controller, and monitoring equipment supported grid and island tests. Commercial model numbers are not public. [4][3][7]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Research objective

    NEDO designed the China work to prove stable grid-connected and islanded operation with PV making up at least 50% of generation capacity, evaluate secondary-battery and EDLC load-following, assess voltage/power-quality compensation, inject controlled disturbances, and validate simulations. [3]

  • Architecture

    PV, diesel, battery, EDLC, and compensators served two teaching buildings behind a controllable point of common coupling. Closing the linking breaker provided grid-connected mode; opening it created islanded operation under the supply-demand control system. [4][5]

  • Control roles

    The diesel generator carried sustained dispatch and frequency/voltage control, the battery addressed lower-frequency energy imbalance, and the EDLC supplied rapid transient response. Power-quality and voltage-dip compensators allowed tests that went beyond ordinary energy scheduling. [4][3]

  • Demonstration result

    NEDO's post-evaluation says the China project completed grid-connected and independent-operation testing at roughly 50% PV capacity share, including battery/EDLC tracking and power-quality equipment evaluation. It also records that simulation/experiment iteration was needed to tune an initially uncertain diesel response and correct unexpected voltage distortion and lightning-related communications damage. [3]

  • Historical significance

    A 2020 China microgrid history identifies the October 2008 Xiasha installation as a 240 kW early interconnected demonstration and, at the time, the only experimental microgrid with 50% PV generation-capacity share. This is historical context, not evidence of current uniqueness or operation. [6]

  • Current evidence gap

    A 2022 retrospective describes the teaching-building rooftop array, substation controls, diesel, battery, EDLC, and test devices, but publishes no operating measurements. No credible source was found for current output, battery condition, diesel hours/fuel, islanding availability, ownership changes, or retirement. [7][3]

Provenance

7 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    LBL

    building-microgrid.lbl.gov · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
    Shimizu Carbon Management Approach — from Microgrid to Smartgrid

    Shimizu Corporation and Hangzhou Dianzi University / 2010 Microgrid Symposium · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Policies and demonstrations of micro-grids in China: A review

    Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · Secondary research

  6. [6]
    Microgrids for Electricity Generation in China

    Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability · Secondary research

  7. [7]
    Hangzhou Dianzi University researcher Liu Dongliang: advancing motor applications

    China Education Online — Zhejiang · Secondary research

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