(19/12/2019) 

The meeting, organised by the UITP in collaboration with the Spanish Railways Foundation, brought together experts from European operators of public transport, rail and buses, as well as authorities in the sector.

The main objective of the E- LOBSTER project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, is to develop an innovative, economically viable and easily replicable electric Transport-Grid inter-connection system.

Its activity is focused on creating synergies between the power distribution networks in Europe, the electrified transport networks such as metro, tram, light railway, etc. and the charging stations for electric buses.

For this first meeting of the electrified public transport stakeholder there was a visit to Metro de Madrid’s facilities, and E-LOBSTER’s technological innovations were shown at the substations of Madrid’s metro network.

Proposals

E-LOBSTER is proposing an advanced R+G (“Railway to Grid”) management system that will be able to reduce electricity losses in both the power distribution network and the light railway network maximizing the consumption of local renewable energy sources production and optimizing the interaction between both grids through the use of shared assets.

It also develops an innovative unique tool for the real-time monitoring of losses and energy consumption of power distribution networks and railway electrification networks validated through real data (see piece of news).

Consortium

The research consortium of the project is made up of nine partners from five European countries. Led by the Italian consulting company Rina, the consortium includes Turbo Power Systems, RSSB, the Birmingham and Newcastle universities, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), Lithium Balance and, from Spain, Metro de Madrid and the Spanish Railways Foundation (Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles).