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Tecnalia Microgrid

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts30
Sources reviewed9
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

TECNALIA's microgrid is an active research and test laboratory, not a community power project with a fixed generation mix. The current Smart Grids and Distributed Generation Laboratory is in Derio, Bizkaia, and can be reconfigured around grid emulators, PV and wind generation, grid-forming/following converters, batteries, ultracapacitors, a 250 kW flywheel, controllable loads, and power-hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The archived Azpeitia location refers to TECNALIA's separate thermal laboratory and earlier linked research assets. Likewise, the legacy '160 kW diesel' appears to combine two historical 55 kW diesel generators with a separate 50 kW microturbine and should be retired.

Research status
TECNALIA's official 2026 infrastructure page presents the Derio laboratory as current and available for testing. The 2020 ERIGrid campaign documents grid-forming controls and load-shedding tests, and the 2020-2022 ENERISLA program connected the Derio electrical laboratory with TECNALIA's Azpeitia thermal laboratory and CIRCE facilities for remote multi-energy testing. Because the laboratory is deliberately reconfigurable, a single operational capacity or energy mix is not meaningful. No source indicates closure; current status is active R&D infrastructure.
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
43.20864, -2.25078
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 Tecnalia Microgrid?

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

Organization

CIRCE - Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption

Partner laboratory remotely coupled with TECNALIA's electrical and thermal microgrids in the ENERISLA project. [4]

Organization

DERlab

European distributed-energy laboratory network that publishes TECNALIA facility capabilities and historical equipment inventory. [5]

Organization

ERIGrid

European research-infrastructure program under which external researchers carried out the documented microgrid-control and low-voltage testing campaign. [6]

Organization

Tecnalia

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

Organization

TECNALIA Research & Innovation

Owner/operator of the Smart Grids and Distributed Generation Laboratory, developer of its microgrid-management system, and research lead for distributed-energy and multi-energy demonstrations. [3][4][6]

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
3.6 [1]
KW Wind
6 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
160 [1]
KW Fuel Cell
1 [1]
Storage
NA [1]
Grid emulation
Three 50 kW grid emulators, 150 kW aggregate, support programmable grid conditions. A line emulator and flexible 150 kW RLC load allow topology and disturbance testing. [3]
DC sources
Programmable DC-source capability at 100 kW and 280 kW for emulating PV arrays, batteries, and other DC resources. [3]
Physical renewable generators
A 6 kW wind turbine, a 0.6 kW single-phase PV system, and a 3.6 kW three-phase PV system are listed in the current laboratory inventory. These are test assets, not a fixed annual energy mix. [3]
Flexible power converters
Two 40 kW converters capable of grid-forming and grid-following operation, used for inverter-dominated microgrid controls and islanding tests. [3][6]
Electrical storage inventory
Current listings include a 5 kW ultracapacitor bank; 1,120 Ah at 24 V with a single-phase inverter; 1,925 Ah at 48 V with a three-phase inverter; and a 250 kW flywheel. Ah ratings cannot be safely converted to usable kWh without configuration and discharge data. [3]
Power-hardware-in-the-loop
Real-time digital simulation is coupled to two 50 kW power amplifiers, enabling power-hardware-in-the-loop validation of controllers and devices under simulated network conditions. [3]
Historical combustion generation
Older facility descriptions list two 55 kW diesel generator sets (110 kW total) plus a distinct 50 kW microturbine. The archived 160 kW 'diesel' figure evidently combines unlike technologies and is not retained as diesel capacity. [7][5][9]
Historical fuel cell
A Ballard Nexa PEM fuel-cell unit is listed at approximately 1.2 kW nominal (often rounded to 1 kW in legacy summaries). Its presence in an older inventory does not establish routine current operation. [5][7]

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

Flexible grid converters

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 40 kW programmable grid-forming/grid-following converters used behind transformers for droop, synchronization, power-sharing, and island-grid research. The official page does not name a current commercial model. [3][6]

02

Grid simulator and load

Regatron — ACS series

Used as programmable grid simulator in the ERIGrid test configuration, alongside a 40 kW three-phase load bank and synchronization/breaker hardware. [6]

03

Measurement system

Dewesoft — SIRIUS

High-speed measurement and data-acquisition hardware used in the documented low-voltage microgrid testing. [6]

04

Fuel cell

Ballard Power Systems — Nexa

Historical PEM fuel-cell test unit rated approximately 1.2 kW nominal. [5]

05

Historical diesel generator sets

John Deere

Two 55 kW diesel engines coupled to 400 V, 50 Hz, approximately 63 kVA synchronous generators in the older laboratory inventory. [5]

06

Flywheel UPS/storage

Caterpillar

Historical/current sources describe flywheel storage; the current laboratory page gives 250 kW while older material identifies Caterpillar equipment. Exact continuity and model are not established. [3][5]

07

Microgrid management system

TECNALIA

MGMS/SCADA environment for topology switching, grid-connected and island control, scheduling, economic dispatch, visualization, state estimation, and protection/load-shedding research. [3][4][6]

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.

  • Management

    Controllable load is also part of the broad range of options at the microgrid laboratory with resistive and reactive load banks. [1]

  • Storage

    Flywheel (250kVA) [1]

  • Storage

    Battery banks (48V‐1925Ah and 24V‐1120Ah) [1]

  • Laboratory topology

    The facility can be rearranged rather than having one permanent one-line diagram. Grid emulators, physical DER, programmable converters, storage, controllable loads, and real-time simulation can be connected for grid-tied, islanded, and transition tests. [3]

  • Control hierarchy

    Documented tests used primary active-power/frequency and reactive-power/voltage droop, with a secondary EMS for frequency restoration, power-exchange scheduling, economic dispatch, visualization, and load shedding. [6]

  • Load-shedding result

    In one ERIGrid step test, load shedding occurred about 6.3 seconds after the disturbance and point-of-connection power returned within the stated seven-second tolerance. This is one experiment, not a utility reliability statistic. [6]

  • Test limitation

    The ERIGrid report notes that some planned tests could not be completed because storage was unavailable during that campaign. This does not mean all laboratory storage was permanently retired. [6]

  • Multi-energy integration

    ENERISLA remotely coupled the Derio electrical microgrid, TECNALIA's Azpeitia thermal laboratory, and CIRCE infrastructure while testing a new SCADA architecture, state estimation, battery SOC/SOH/RUL methods, PHIL, and building-integrated PV. [4]

  • Digital twin

    A 2022 peer-reviewed publication describes a virtual/digital-twin environment for testing microgrid-management algorithms before deployment against physical laboratory equipment. [8]

  • Location correction

    The current electrical Smart Grids and Distributed Generation Laboratory is in Derio. Azpeitia remains relevant as TECNALIA's thermal laboratory in linked multi-energy experiments, not as the sole location of the current electrical microgrid. [3][4]

Provenance

9 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 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Source

    building-microgrid.lbl.gov · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    Smart Grids and Distributed Generation Laboratory

    TECNALIA Research & Innovation · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Working towards decarbonisation: renewable isolated microgrids

    TECNALIA Research & Innovation · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
    TECNALIA Microgrid Laboratory

    Microgrid Symposiums · Secondary research

  8. [8]
    Virtual laboratory for microgrid management systems testing

    TECNALIA Digital Science Platform / peer-reviewed publication record · Secondary research

  9. [9]
    TECNALIA Microgrid - archived legacy record

    Microgrid Projects via Internet Archive · Archived source

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