Diesel generators were switched off as a 2.3MWh battery energy storage system went into action. On Wednesday 6 March from 3pm to 5pm, Saba Electric Company said, the generators powered down, reducing the usual noise pollution to nothing.

Although the diesel was needed again to cover a shortfall overnight, by 8am the next morning, the island was running on solar once again. Under “ideal weather conditions”, the utility said, nine to 10 hours of energy demand for the island’s 2,000 inhabitants could be covered by the installation.

The energy storage system was supplied by PV inverter company SMA’s subsidiary SMA Sunbelt Energy, while the solar portion of the project was delivered by Dutch PV project developer Ecorus. Saba has two PV parks, which were expanded up to 2MWp capacity in its latest expansion phase.

SMA Sunbelt Energy is both turnkey provider of PV hybrid and energy storage system projects and a component supplier for off-grid system projects. For the SEC battery energy storage project, while SMA supplied the whole system, the company emphasised the role of its Sunny Central Storage 2200 inverter, which is connected to the medium voltage grid, as well as its SMA Hybrid Controller, which can control the switching off of diesel generators without compromising grid stability, the company claimed. The battery system can also smooth out even milliseconds of gaps in solar production due to cloud cover.

(Source: PV-Tech, By Mr Andy Colthorpe)

Continue reading on PV-Tech

The government of the Republic of Mauritius announced last week that a 16.3 MW solar power plant has been connected in the industrial zone of Solitude, near Port Louis. “The electricity produced will be directed to the sub-station in Riche Terre to supply the region and the economic zone of Jin Fei,” the government said in a statement. “The solar plant feeds into the Central Electricity Board (CEB) national electricity grid, replacing the country’s energy mix with clean, renewable energy.”

Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Ivan Collendavelloo said there are now six operational solar farms on the archipelago with another four to be built in coming months. The latest installation cost €20 million.

Mauritius is supporting distributed solar through net metering and rebates in a scheme aiming to put photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of 10,000 homes. In addition, it’s planning a 2 MW floating PV plant. The government is planning to increase use of renewable sources of energy from the current around 22% to 35% by 2025.

In the Maldives meanwhile, the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) is pushing forward its commitment in a 5 MW solar tender. The Ministry of Finance issued a tender for the deployment of a grid-tied solar photovoltaic facility near the capital Malé. The project will be implemented on a design, build, finance, own, operate, and transfer basis.

Martha’s Vineyard is working with the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) to develop a plan that will enable it to meet this ambitious challenge. Prompted by the Vineyard Sustainable Energy Committee, Martha’s Vineyard hopes to serve as a model for other island communities.

As a first step, MITEI hosted a net-zero carbon design thinking, offering participants a chance to creatively explore clean energy options through a process known as the design thinking model. The workshop was co-hosted with Shell, a founding member of MITEI.

Design thinking is a collaborative process where groups are constantly engaged in out-of-the-box thought exercises and activities such as fast-paced brainstorming and rapid prototyping sessions. While still relatively new, the concept has proven itself time and time again as an effective problem-solving tool.

For senior and chemical engineering major Allison Shepard, the design thinking process has changed how she thinks about everything. “Design thinking really brings creativity and hands-on, quick thinking to the forefront and makes things happen,” she said.

During the workshop, graduate and undergraduate students tackled separate energy-related issues: transportation, agriculture, economic stability for residents. At the end of the week, each group presented their solutions to Martha’s Vineyard residents and stakeholders.

Heraklion, Crete, 05 March 2019 – Crete, one of Greece’s top holiday destinations and battered by flooding last week, has identified key actions become a zero-emissions island by 2030 by boosting use of renewable energy and electric cars, optimising its water resources and recycling waste as a way to protect its local environment and make the island more resilient to climate change.

The priorities emerged from the first in situ meeting of the Greening the Islands Observatory, held on 28^th February-1^st March in Heraklion and hosted by the Region of Crete. It saw the active participation of all key stakeholders: technical departments of the Crete Region and government, utilities, universities, local SMEs, Greening the Islands specialists and corporate members such as Hitachi and Xant.

“Our government urgently needs to develop a new green growth strategy for the island to protect the environment, improve the quality of life of inhabitants and create a new economy that will generate new stable jobs related to innovative green sectors,” commented Stavros Arnaoutakis, Regional Governor of Crete. “We’re counting on our co-operation with Greening the Islands to develop a plan to becoming a zero-emissions island by 2030”.

With this target, Crete is joining other frontrunner islands on sustainability in the Mediterranean and beyond: Spain’s Balearic Islands earlier this year approved a law with environmental objectives for 2050 including freeing the archipelago of locally generated carbon emissions and making its energy system run on 100% renewables; in the Pacific, Hawaii is leading the way with an ambitious transition to wind and solar power with the goal of reaching 100% renewables by 2045; in Asia, the Philippine government closed the popular island of Borocay for a six-month clean-up and declared it a “critical area” and started to remove constructions from fragile areas or that have a significant impact on the ecological system.

“This meeting has been a unique opportunity to establish an operational local working group with all key decision makers within the Greening the Islands Observatory,” commented Gianni Chianetta, Director of Greening the Islands. “In the coming months, we’ll be exploring in detail the key actions that will make Crete, already one of the most visited Mediterranean tourist destinations, a leading global green tourism destination.”

The number of tourists visiting Crete is growing rapidly – now touching 5 million a year with international arrivals up by 40% over four years. But the number of tourists isn’t the only challenge. In recent days, the island has faced for first time tangible damages from climate change.

“The effects of climate change are already real. There is no more time to delay concrete actions to protect the environment and prevent further disasters”, stated George Kremlis, Honorary Director at the European Commission and Active Senior for Circular Economy In Islands. “A new plan for Crete needs to be originated by an integrated approach to resilience and sustainability. A circular economy has to be priority number one in the agenda of Crete and of the 2,500 EU islands.”

Working together with different stakeholders will be critical to Crete’s success. The latest event brought together local administration representatives, local utilities, regional universities, business members of the GTI Observatory and Greening the Islands experts, to discuss how to make Crete sustainable and resilient to climate change.

In the energy sector, the island will work on implementing storage systems to support the increase of renewables. Energy efficiency solutions will be improved for hotels, buildings and street lights and information campaign planned to increase the acceptance of renewables in Crete.

Crete is an isolated energy system and all its consumption is produced locally: there are three thermal power plants, burning fuel oil and diesel, and renewable energy plants that cover an annual share of 20-24% (close to the upper technical and operational limit for a non-interconnected electric system). Crete has total capacity of 299 MW of renewable energy systems, which includes 200 MW of wind farms, 98 MW of photovoltaic plants, 0,3 MW of hydroelectric and 0,5 MW of biogas. The remaining system capacity available for RES development is 16 MW which will be used for PVs on roofs and PVs for net metering.

In terms of water, the island will study losses in the water grid, solutions for the efficiency of system and seasonal fluctuations in demand due to tourism. After that, a strategy for drought protection will be developed, potentially including innovative desalination plants.

On mobility, Crete is looking into electrifying ports and vessels with charging infrastructure and a policy to promote use of electric boats. Moreover, it wants to incentivise the use of electric cars, impose restrictions on polluting vehicles in urban areas and create a business model that encourages private companies to support the adoption of electric vehicles. A web-app to support the use of electric vehicles by locals and tourists could be adopted. Crete wants also examine the possibility to develop a V2G (Vehicle to Grid) pilot and to create road paths for bicycles.

As for waste, the GTI Observatory will propose new methods to increase separate collection starting with hotels and markets and then moving to domestic organic waste collection. Biogas plants for organic waste and domestic composting for remote areas will be evaluated and the opportunity of organic sludge treatment and reuse for agriculture analyzed. The working group will also see how to increase collection and reuse of demolition materials. Proposals for awareness campaigns for the Crete population will be one of the key point as the co-operation of local residents has been identified as a key factor for better results. The GTI Observatory will also investigate best practices around Europe for waste treatment and waste separate collection.

For each sector a thematic online forum in the Greening the Islands web-app will be created, where all technical documents of the meeting will be published and where all key stakeholders from Crete will continue to discuss their work ahead of the next meeting, expected in the summer. Crete residents will be able to see the forums on the website of the Regional government, follow the debate and send comments.

The UK Space Agency is investing £2.9 million (€3.3 million) to expand a renewable energy analytics platform for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian oceans. Following an initial phase focused on the Seychelles, a group of islands (Montserrat, St Lucia, Mauritius, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu) will get satellite and in-situ weather data, combined with advanced analytics, to help define the best renewable energy mix locally, look at where projects could be located, examine the potential financial viability of renewable energy investments, and estimate power production and variability.

The investment is part of the International Partnership Programme (IPP), which makes the UK space sector’s research and expertise available to underdeveloped and developing economies in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Colin McKinnon, CEO of the Institute for Environmental Analytics (IEA) which has been leading the development of the RE-SAT platform thanks to support from the IPP, said: “This will allow us to build on the successful launch of the platform in the Seychelles and will see the platform develop additional features – such as knowledge sharing functionality – which will further benefit renewable energy professionals in our partner countries and help them as they plan their transition to higher levels of clean energy over the coming years.”

The Mediterranean island of Crete is our destination for the first in situ meeting of the Greening the Islands Observatory. The full range of key local, national and international stakeholders will meet in an operational workshop that will analyze the island’s current situation and aim to identify potential projects for the self-sufficiency and sustainability of Crete.

Hosted by the regional government of Crete, the gathering on Feb. 28 – March 1 in Heraklion will bring together local administration representatives, local utilities, regional universities, corporate members of the GTI Observatory, Greening the Islands experts, etc. to discuss on energy, water, mobility and waste. An overview of local policies, regulation and permitting rules will be presented. Among participants: George Kremlis – Honorary Director, EC mandated for Circular Economy and Insularity; Stavros Arnaoutakis – Regional Governor of Crete; Nikos Kalogeris – Vice Governor on Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy; Eleni Hatziyanni – Director of Environment and Spatial Planning, Region of Crete; Maria Kassotaki, Director of Managing Authority of Crete; Representatives from Power Power Corporations, Observatory Corporate Membersand several Greening the Islands specialists for all sector.

The two days meeting include technical site visits and a press conference to communicate the results on the workshop and the 2019 Greening the Islands Observatory plan for Crete.

See the updated agenda of the Crete meeting.

Find out more about the GTI Observatory and how to become a member .

The Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition aims to make the Spanish archipelago free of locally generated carbon emissions by 2050 and make its energy system run on 100% renewables.

Under the plans, the 35% of energy generated would come from renewables by 2030 while energy consumption would be lowered by 23%. Looking ahead to 2050, the islands aim to transition to 100% clean energy with each of the four islands meeting at least 70% of power needs from generation in loco.

The new regulation also mandates the closure of polluting power plants, starting with the Es Murterar thermal power stationin Alcúdia, Menorca Island, from next year. The transition will be supported by mandating solar panels on car parks and buildings of a certain size as well as installing low-consumption street lighting.

Controversially, diesel vehicles will be banned from 2025 with those running on gasoline outlawed after 2035 (local vehicles will be allowed to run to the end of their life). Rental companies, however, will need 100% electric fleets by 2035, supported by a government investment of 1,000 electric charging points by 2025.

Sitting just off the northern edge of the British Isles, the Orkney archipelago is made up of about 20 populated islands and is “blessed” by nature: windswept and surrounded by strong tidal currents. Orkney, which used to import power, now generates on average 120% of its own needs.

This makes the location today a centre for research into renewable energy, including wind turbines, electric vehicles and wave and tidal power. This abundance of clean power has made the Orkneys an ideal place for hydrogen, created from water that is electrolysed using clean energy.

On the remote island of Eday, an experimental energy initiative backed by the European Marine Energy Centre in 2017 successfully used tidal power to produce hydrogen. With €12 million in funding, it’s now developing a hydrogen power system for the car and passenger ferries that connect the Orkney archipelago with the British mainland.

If the ferry launch proceeds as planned by 2021, the Eday project looks set to beat competition from other parts of the globe to become the first in the world to power a seagoing vehicle and passenger ferry using hydrogen.

Neil Kermode, managing director of Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre, told the Financial Times: “We’re proving that you can take the wind and the waves and the tides around us and use it to propel vessels through the water.”

Charter of Rome signed to promote co-operation among Mediterranean islands

Rome, 03 December 2018 – Green tourism is a potent opportunity for the many small islands dotted around the Italian peninsula that could have positive effects on economic development, society and the environment. That’s the message from the 3^rdItalian edition of the “Greening the Islands” conference, held last week in Rome in collaboration with Italy’s association of small island municipalities (ANCIM).

According to the Observatory on Tourism for Islands Economy (OTIE), sustainable tourism is necessary for the survival of islands because, if the right policies are put in place, it can reduce the stresses placed by excessive visitor numbers and at the same time increase revenues for island economies.

Vilma Moronese, chair of the environment committee of the Italian senate, told the conference that 170 million euros are due to be provided over six years to fund projects protecting and enhancing the country’s small islands. Moronese presented a framework law on small islands that has been approved by the Senate and is now being examined by the lower house of parliament.

The conference also saw the launch of the Charter of Rome, initiated by ANCIM and Greening the Islands to create a single economic development area including islands around the Mediterranean, a step that would facilitate co-operation and access to European funds.

“Greening Islands will work with its network of islands to encourage other such areas around Europe and all over the world, which could join together to represent the ‘state’ of European islands,” said Gianni Chianetta, scientific director of Greening the Islands. “There are 25 million people living on Europe’s 2,500 islands and they should have a stronger voice in EU decisions.”

During the event, George Kremlis, Wioletta Dunin-Majewska and Helmut Morsi from the European Commission’s directorates-general for the environment, energy and transport respectively presented new financing programmes specifically targeted at islands. The Horizon 2020 project has earmarked 150 million euros by 2020 to support the development of renewable energy projects on islands, including through the European Islands Facility. For transport, the 2019 Work Programme provides similar levels of financing to help connect remote locations.

Turning back to Italy, the energy regulator (Arera) and state-owned energy markets operator GSE presented for the first time in public new regulations (2018 558/2018/R/efr)incentivising the production of power and heat from renewable sources on islands that are not connected to the national grid. The new rules switch incentives from fossil fuels to renewables, highlighting how the regulation has been drawn up bearing in mind the specific situation of non-connected islands.

The conference also heard an update from the two-day meeting of the Greening the Islands Observatory, which looked into the first projects that are planned in the energy, water and mobility sectors in the islands that have joined the initiative (the Egadi archipelago in Italy, Crete in Greece, Helgoland in Germany and Boracay in the Philippines).

The proposed projects include: the introduction of an integrated system for a smart island by Enel X, smart grids by Terna Energy Solutions, electric car sharing by Axpo, and the latest efficiency systems for water networks by Hitachi. The next meeting, due in the first quarter of 2019 in the target islands, will serve to include local stakeholders in the plans.

Note for editors:

Greening the Islands is an international non-profit initiative that aims to stimulate collective work and promote best practices around the issues of energy, water, mobility, waste, agricuture, tourism and the environment in general for the enhancement of small islands and remote locations, through conferences, online forums, webinars and an observatory.

The 5th international conference on island sustainability “Greening the Islands – The future of energy, water and mobility on islands in harmony with the biosphere” will be held this year on Minorca from 17 to 18 May. The event is organised in association with the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, the Government of Minorca, the Minorca Biosphere Reserve and the association of the Spanish photovoltaic industry (UNEF) with the scientific support of The Green Consulting Group and Canary Islands’ Technology Institute (ITC).
The conference will focus on the central topics of energy, water and mobility as well as issues connected to tourism, agriculture and waste management. They will all be seen through the lens of protecting the biosphere, which will be the uniting theme of the event thanks to a collaboration with the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves.
The gathering will be an occasion to discuss progress on the sustainability of islands, the legislative and regulatory context, latest technologies and best practice approaches for enabling island communities to take action towards a development model based on reducing human impacts on the environment.
Two days of proceedings will see sector experts, institutions, associations and technology providers discuss the situation for European islands. Speakers include Brendan Devlin from DG Energy at the European Commission; Michela Miletto, UN WWAP Deputy Coordinator at UNESCO; Pierre Jean Coulon, European Economic and Social Committee Section in charge of Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN); Iakovos Gkanoulis, Special Secretary for Water Resources at the Ministry of Reconstruction of Production, Environment & Energy, Greece; George Kremlis, Honorary Director of the Directorate General for the Environment at the European Commission.
Delegates will also be present from international associations in relevant sectors as well as representatives of European islands, hailing from Italy, Spain and Greece as well as islands in the North Sea. As usual, the international event will be preceded by a national Greening the Islands conference, which will go into detail on issues relating to Spanish islands together with all the country’s main political and institutional players and utilities.

Greening the Islands Observatory
The conference on Minorca will also provide the setting for the first meeting of the Greening the Islands Observatory, an international initiative for small islands. The Observatory has been created to respond to the need of institutions and business for a systematic and scientific approach to island sustainability in sectors such as energy, water and mobility. It will do so by gathering information and providing analyses on critical issues such as: costs, technologies and solutions, laws and regulation, licenses and permits.

Greening the Islands Awards
The event will see winners announced of the 4th edition of the Greening the Islands Awards, a competition to recognise the best projects implemented on small islands. The awards are open to islands from around the world as well as partners working on projects relating to one of the following topics: renewable energy and energy saving; sustainable mobility; water. The winners of the 4th edition will be chosen based on votes cast by an international jury (composed of: Brendan Devlin, DG Energy, European Commission; Emanuele Taibi, Islands Energy Transition Analyst, The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Michela Miletto, UN WWAP Deputy Coordinator, UNESCO; Konstantina Toli, Senior Programme Officer, Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean; Philippe Vangeel, Secretary General, The European Association for Electromobility – AVERE) as well as members of the GreeningTheIslands.net community.

Web-conference to connect all islands
In order to connect as many islands as possible, Greening the Islands is also an online event. Participation will be possible via live streaming made available through Greeningtheislands.net – Connecting Islands Innovations, the platform for small island communities around the world.

National conference
The national session of Greening the Islands will be held on the morning of 17 May, and will be devoted this year to the situation in Spain. Held in collaboration with the Association of Spanish Photovoltaic Industry (UNEF), the session will look at how the Balearic and Canary islands can reach the goal of going 100% renewable. The proceedings will include an exchange of experiences between Spanish and Italian regulation and discuss how Italy’s decree law on small islands could be applied to the Spanish context.

The full conference programme is available at www.greeningtheislands.net

Note to editors:

Greening the Islands is an international non-profit initiative that aims to stimulate collective work and promote best practices around the issues of energy, water, mobility and all aspects that can enhance small islands and remote locations, through conferences, online forums, webinars and an observatory.
The international conference – now in its 5th year – always involves the government of the host country and this year is organised in collaboration with the Regional Government of the Balearics, the Government of Minorca, the Minorca Biosphere Reserve and the association of the Spanish photovoltaic industry (UNEF) with the scientific support of The Green Consulting Group and Canary Islands’ Technology Institute (ITC). The event brings together a consolidated and rapidly growing network of experts from government, institutions and business in an exchange about the most innovative solutions and technologies as well as government policies.

Press office:
Cecilia Bergamasco – press@greeningtheislands.com – cell. +39.347.9306784