ISGAN and GSGF Celebrate Global Excellence in Smart Grid Projects with special focus on ‘Smart Microgrids’

Global Recognition

On May 29, 2019, ISGAN, in partnership with the Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF), announced the winners of the fifth annual ISGAN Award of Excellence, during a special ceremony during the ISGAN-Mission Innovation (MI) IC1 Forum at the tenth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM10) in Vancouver, Canada. Ms. Amanda Wilson, the Director General of Natural Resources Canada and Mr. Youngjoon Joo, the Korean deputy Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, presented the ISGAN Award to the winning projects.

The ISGAN Award of Excellence (AoE) international competition showcases leadership and innovation in smart grid projects around the world. The 2019 ISGAN Award of Excellence recognizes exemplars in the field of smart grids with a special focus on “Local Integrated Energy Systems (Smart Grids)” that will advance smart grids by sustaining a reliable and resilient grid through integration of energy systems and allowing for customer participation in the electricity enterprise.

▣ Awards Competition Official Rules
▣ Awards Fact Sheet
▣ Awards Brochure

Theme for 2019

Excellence in Smart Grids for Local Integrated Energy Systems (Smart Microgrids)

Competition at a Glance

For the fifth Annual ISGAN Award of Excellence competition, a wide range of smart grid project nominations were received, representing projects from 10 different countries throughout the world. The winning projects were selected by an independent, international jury of smart grid experts, led by Reji Pillai Kumar, Executive Director of the Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF). The jury selected the winning projects based on the following four criteria: potential impact, economic rationale, potential for replication and adaptation, innovation and other benefits.

Competition Result

The “Winner” of 2019 ISGAN Award of Excellence, which focused on “Smart Grids for Local Integrated Energy Systems (Smart Microgrids),” was awarded to KEPCO’s Open Microgrid Project, from Korea.

Rural Intelligent Grid (RIGRID) by ELECTRUM SP. Z O.O. from Poland was recognized as the “Runner-up”, while six other projects were also honored with the title “Honorable Mention”: City of Summerside Mypowernet (The City of Summerside), Solar Energy Management Systems Smart Grid Pilot (Oshawa Power & Utilities Corporation Energy Service), from Canada, MASERA: Microgrid for Affordable and Sustainable Electricity in Remote Areas (EDF R&D), from France, Local Island Power Supply with Renewables in Case of Large-Scale Blackouts (LEW Verteilnetz), from Germany, Community Grids –  Smart Virtual Microgrids (Smart M Power Company), from Ireland, and IoT-Based Campus Microgrid Project at Seoul National University (LSIS), from Korea.

ELECTRUM’s Rural Intelligent Grid (RIGRID) was also honored with the GSGF Best Smartgrid Project Award, which recognized its excellence of replication.

Winning Projects

	Open Microgrid Project Korea Electric Power Corporation (Korea)
	Rural Intelligent Grid (RIGRID) ELECTRUM SP. Z O.O. (Poland) (Partner Organizations) – Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF Magdeburg – Warsaw University of Technology – Institute of Electrical Power – Europejski Instytut Miedzi, Copper Alliance – Harz-Regenerativ-Druiberg e.V. – Regenerativ Kraftwerke Harz GmbH
	City of Summerside Mypowernet The City of Summerside (Canada)
	Solar Energy Management Systems Smart Grid Pilot Oshawa Power & Utilities Corporation Energy Service (Canada) (Partner Organization) Tabuchi Electric Co., Ltd.
	MASERA: Microgrid for Affordable and Sustainable Electricity in Remote Areas EDF R&D (France) (Partner Organization) Enedis
	Local Island Power Supply with Renewables in Case of Large-Scale Blackouts LEW Verteilnetz (Germany) (Partner Organizations) – University of Applied Sciences Augsburg – Technical University of Munich – LEW Wasserkraft GmbH – Stellba Hydro GmbH & Co KG – Marquis Automatisierungstechnik GmbH – PSI Software AG – MTU Onsite Energy
	Community Grids – Smart Virtual Microgrids Smart M Power Company (Ireland) (Partner Organization) Micro Electricity Generation Association (MEGA)
	IoT-Based Campus Microgrid Project at Seoul National University LSIS (Korea) (Partner Organizations) – Seoul National University, – KEPRI (KEPCO Research Institute) – Feelingk – LG Electronics – Nara Controls – Encored Technologies
Recognizing the excellence of replication	Rural Intelligent Grid (RIGRID) ELECTRUM SP. Z O.O. (Poland) (Partner Organizations) – Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF Magdeburg – Warsaw University of Technology – Institute of Electrical Power – Europejski Instytut Miedzi, Copper Alliance – Harz-Regenerativ-Druiberg e.V. – Regenerativ Kraftwerke Harz GmbH

* Projects for Honorable Mention are listed in an alphabetical order by country

Members of the Jury

Our grateful thanks to the members of the 2019 ISGAN Award of Excellence jury for contributing their time and expertise to the evaluation process

	Reji Kumar Pillai (India), Jury Chair – Chairman, Global Smart Grid Federation – President, India Smart Grid Forum
	Steve Hauser (United States) – CEO, GridWise Alliance		Oscar Miranda Miranda (Mexico) – Co-founder and Chairman – Smart Grid Mexico
	Michele de Nigris (Italy) – Director, Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico – RSE SpA		Valerie-Anne Lencznar (France) – Managing Director, Think Smart Grids
	Robert George Stephen (South Africa) – Technology Master Specialist, ESKOM – President, CIGRE		Cheong Kam Hoong (Malaysia) – Industry Advisor of University Tunku Abdul Rahman – GSGF Ambassador
	Kentaro Akiyama (Japan) – Vice President/Professor, Seijoh University		Ravi Seethapathy (Canada) – Executive Chairman, Biosirus Inc. – GSGF Ambassador