TOLEDO RENEWABLES OPERATION CENTRE: A PIONEERING PROJECT WORLDWIDE

Toledo Renewables Operation Centre: a pioneering project worldwide

20 years ago, Iberdrola España launched a pioneering project in the field of renewable energies: the Renewables Operation Centre (CORE) in Toledo. This is a centre that controls and operates in real time the operation of Iberdrola Spain's wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric facilities.

Wind farm in Monte Oiz.

The CORE in Toledo has the objective of improving the management and performance of Iberdrola España's facilities.

The Toledo CORE became operational at the end of 2003 with the aim of improving the technical management and economic performance of the company's facilities in order to increase the quality of the renewable energy supplied. It began by monitoring 29 Spanish wind farms, but was soon joined by electricity substations and hydroelectric plants, as well as other wind farms located in other European countries. Today, the centre operates from Toledo more than 300 wind farms, photovoltaic plants, electrical substations and batteries located in eleven different countries, monitors more than 3,000,000 real-time data and controls more than 13 GW of active power. Access to real-time data and the storage of more than 20 years of historical information provides the company with a wealth of technical knowledge which, together with the standardisation and digitalisation of operational processes, is very useful for acting with greater precision and consistency.

Thus, the Toledo CORE combines technological innovation; real-time operation and control of the status of the facilities; intelligent alarm management; incident management; optimisation of operating costs; increased availability and production; infrastructures and value-added services with a high degree of specialisation; and the acquisition, processing and storage of information.

It was the first facility of its kind to be commissioned anywhere in the world and soon made Toledo an international technological benchmark in the field of renewable energies. During its two decades of operation, it has undergone constant evolution and has been the forerunner of new applications and progress in the planning, operation and maintenance of wind farms. Currently, its staff is made up of more than 50 people, including operators, engineers and IT specialists, to provide support for any incident related to the centre's functions. Pioneers in the development of the digitalisation of control systems at Iberdrola España, the CORE is now also prepared to face the challenges posed by cybersecurity.

Iberdrola España has exported this successful Spanish model to other countries where it has developed renewable energy control centres. In Spain, in 2021, we created a centre to manage the hydroelectric plants in Montalvo (Cuenca), the Hydroelectric Operation Centre (COHI).

Functions of the Spanish CORE

The main functions of the Toledo CORE include:

  • Attending to incidents remotely: A specialised staff made up of operators, engineers and IT specialists provides remote support for any incident that may occur in the installations connected to the centre. This increases the availability of the plants and improves personnel management.
  • Centralised availability of all operating information: Centralised and homogeneous management makes it possible to improve maintenance processes.
  • Incorporating new energy control functions: The aim is to enable the system to adapt to regulatory changes.

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