Grants for the project “KONTRAC GP170DC_SK – Development of the tramway propulsion converter with supercapacitor module”

KONČAR – ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATICS Ltd. for production and services has applied for an open call from the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of the Republic of Croatia for the awarding of grants for the project “KONTRAC GP170DC_SK – Development of the tramway propulsion converter with supercapacitor module”. The project was approved, and the Grant Agreement was signed on 2nd November 2018 at the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of the Republic of Croatia.

This is a research and development project and it will be financed from the European Regional Development Fund, that is intended for increasing the development of new products and services that result from research and development activities. Partner of the project applicant, KONČAR – ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATICS Ltd. for production and services, is University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. The project is to be realized within 36 months. Industrial research will last for the first two years of the project, and the experimental development will take place in the third project year.

The total eligible costs of the project amount to HRK 10,558,168.91, and the grant is HRK 6,528,270.54.

By the project “KONTRAC GP170DC_SK – Development of the tramway propulsion converter with supercapacitor module ” the project applicant, KONČAR – ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATICS Ltd. for production and services, and its project partner, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, are launching industrial research and experimental development in the field of advanced transport systems. The aim of the project is mastering the development and innovation of high value-added equipment by which the energy efficiency of existing solutions in the field of transport systems is being increased. The obtained results will be used for later commercial application thanks to the main realized project aims: developed tramway propulsion converter with a braking energy storage unit for the vehicle and its subsequent use, developed energy storage unit with built-in system for uniform voltage cell distribution, developed and implemented algorithms of controlling charging and discharging cycles of energy storage units that will increase energy efficiency and ensure the maximum lifetime of the energy storage units and technical documentation for the serial production of the tramway propulsion converter and energy storage units. The project envisages registration of a trademark, industrial design and a patent.

During development of the tramway propulsion converter with the energy storage units, the existing knowledge and skills acquired in the production of converters will be applied, especially in the production of converters for rail vehicles, and the project activities and expected results represent also a new step in the field of research and development of converter technology in the Republic of Croatia. By production of the tramway propulsion converter with energy storage units, the production assortment of the project applicant, KONČAR – ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATICS Ltd. for production and services will be enlarged, thereby enabling the appliance and appearance in markets that explicitly require the use of this technology. When developing the energy management algorithms, within the converter and at the vehicle level, it will be necessary to explore and apply new knowledge which will result in multi-sectoral performance (additional development of monitoring, diagnostics and networking using newer and more modern processor modules on the converter).

Bespovratna sredstva za projekt KONPRO 2

The project was co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.