“Currently, Norvento is a model for opportunities and development capacity”

The European neFO project is providing a boost to the development of power electronics-based solutions. Jorge García, Program Manager for Norvento TECHnPower products, shares his first-hand experience in this interview, analysing the key features of the nXL converter family and the advances in the sector that this division of Norvento Enerxía is contributing.

If you had to define nXL in one sentence for someone who doesn’t know what a converter can do in your industry, what would it be?

The definition of a product as a converter in the utility-scale energy generation or management sector could be: A converter is a smart device integrated into the electricity grid between the point of generation and your home. It shapes or adapts raw energy so that it reaches you at the required quality level.

What have been the most significant technical challenges in bringing functionalities such as grid-forming, black-start, or seamless on/off-grid transition from the laboratory to the field? What insights would you like to share with integrators/EPCs?

Norvento has extensive experience in functionalities such as grid-forming, black start, and seamless transition between forming and following. This is due to the numerous installations and microgrids carried out in recent years, which allow us to speak with expertise on these topics, having operated these functionalities in on-grid and off-grid networks in hybrid systems with other generation sources, both renewable and non-renewable.

neFO was created to be a self-sufficient, net-zero emissions factory. In what design, testing or supply decisions for nXL is this ambition evident (own energy, storage, efficiency, maintenance, etc.) and what specific benefits does the end customer notice?

The production process for nXL converters requires a large amount of energy, especially during testing period. Obtaining this energy from renewable sources is a challenge for the plant’s own energy supply network. In addition, Norvento has developed its own technology so that this supply network can be connected to DC, thereby optimising the installation’s performance to the maximum.

You work closely with universities and partners (such as the Norvento TECHnPower–UAH University Chair Programme). What profiles and skills are key to the team? What milestones are you excited about in the short/medium term at nXL or in the hydrogen and microgrid projects linked to neFO?

From the UAH and The University Chair Programme, we obtain profiles with a high level of expertise in power electronics. Right now, Norvento is a benchmark among Spanish technology centres in terms of opportunities and development capacity, thanks to its technical team and the commitment of its management to becoming a global leader in renewable energy technology within a few years. Next year, with the commissioning of the neFO plant and the installation of the first solutions based on the nXL family, we are facing a significant and enormous challenge.

The neFO project, which manufactures this type of products, has been awarded €27.5 million by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and is funded by the European Innovation Fund under the call for proposals ‘Innovation Fund 2023 Net Zero Technologies (InnovFund – 2023 – NZT)’ in the category ‘InnovFund – 2023 – NZT – Manufacturing – Clean-tech manufacturing’.