White wave top
White wave bottom

The Islands

Ameland, Terceira, Lampedua, Bora Bora & Nisyros

IANOS selected the islands of Ameland (Netherlands) and Terceira (Portugal) to serve as “pilot islands” and three “Fellow Islands” – Lampedusa (Italy), Bora Bora (French Polynesia), and Nisyros (Greece) – to  validate the replicability potential of the results of the pilot islands.

The island of Ameland (Netherlands) ©Kees van de Veen

Ameland

Ameland is a Dutch municipality and one of the islands in the Wadden Sea, located in the northern part of the Netherlands with a surface area of 53,83 km2. As of 2017 Ameland has a population of 3,683 inhabitants. It is known for its natural beauty and serves as a popular holiday destination with over 600,000 annual visitors.

Challenge

Currently, Ameland’s grid connection to the mainland and several transformers are aging and not able to cope with energy transition activities.

Through the Sustainable Ameland initiative and an advantageous ‘experimental status’ (in terms of regulation requirements) granted by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, Ameland aims to establish a closed circular economy and to be fully decarbonised, energy neutral and self-sufficient in 2035. To achieve this, Ameland has set four goals:

  1. maximise renewable energy generation;
  2. increase the flexibility of the energy system by adding modulating devices;
  3. install storage and additional supporting infrastructure;
  4. increase the active engagement of the local community.

The goals are aimed at reducing the energy dependence of the island. The implementation will revolve around the development of a dependable and reliable smart grid. A collaboration agreement (covenant) has been drawn up bringing together the municipality, companies, non-profit organisations and knowledge institutes. Together, these organisations target the development of large fuel cells (for local energy supply), multi-utility grids, local smart grids and the development of hydrogen and ozone production technologies. In recent years, several projects in support of this sustainable ambition have come to fruition, including sustainably produced hydrogen that is transported through the existing natural gas infrastructure and the construction of a natural gas filling station.

How IANOS contributes to the island’s energy transition

Ameland plans to increase the capacity of its grid connection with the mainland to accommodate the increase in renewable energy supply and peak demand, and to electrify and decarbonise the offshore industry around the island.

IANOS contributes to this ambition and extends it through several innovative interventions and integration with a Virtual Power Plant:

  • Maximisation of self-consumption in the community using demand-side management
  • Optimal dispatch of local energy generators and intra-day balancing services
  • Utilisation of distributed storage solutions for fast response ancillary services
  • Demand Side Management and Smart Grid methods to support power quality and congestion management services
  • Decarbonisation of transport and the use of electric mobility to stabilise the energy system
  • Decarbonising large industrial continuous loads through electrification and local energy generation
  • Circular economy, utilisation of waste streams and gas grid decarbonisation
  • Decarbonisation of heating network
  • Active citizen and local energy community engagement
Read more
Windturbines on the island of Terceira, Portugal

Terceira

Terceira, one of the Azores’s 9 inhabited islands, is a volcanic island located in the middle of the north Atlantic Ocean 1,600km west of Portugal. Terceira is the third largest island, with an area of 402.2 km². It has 55,300 inhabitants and its economy is mostly based on the raising of livestock, production of dairy-based products, and recently tourism. Angra do Heroísmo, the historical capital of the archipelago, is part of Terceira and classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Challenge

Due to the rough seafloor topography, an electrical connection is not possible on the island and therefore Terceira has a self-sufficient energy system.

How IANOS contributes to the island’s energy transition

Terceira has a subtropical climate with mild seasonal changes. Thanks to its volcanic origin, the island can make use of geothermal resources for power generation. Terceira aims to become a model for other volcanic islands in the EU. Several initiatives have been implemented to foster the growth of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable energy sector, namely:

  1. investment in renewable energy sources
  2. development of an electric mobility plan
  3. introduction of new legislation for the electricity sector

IANOS will strengthen and extend these initiatives through several innovative interventions and integration with a Virtual Power Plant:

  • Maximisation of self-consumption in the community using demand-side management
  • Optimal dispatch of local energy generators and intra-day balancing services
  • Demand Side Management and Smart Grid methods to support power quality and congestion management services
  • Demand Side Management and Smart Grid methods to support power quality and congestion management services
  • Decarbonisation of transport and the use of electric mobility to stabilise the energy system
  • Active citizen and local energy community engagement
Read more
Lampedusa (Italy), Bora Bora (French Polynesia), and Nisyros (Greece)

Fellow Islands

Lampedusa (Italy), Bora Bora (French Polynesia), and Nisyros (Greece).

Lampedusa (Italy)

The island of Lampedusa is located in southern Italy, belongs to the Pelagie archipelago, and encompasses Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione (the last being uninhabited). Lampedusa covers an area of 20.2 km2, 92% of the total area of the archipelago. Lampedusa and Linosa have 6,216 inhabitants of which 5,795 live in Lampedusa. Their economy is mostly based on fishing, agriculture and tourism in summer.

How IANOS contributes to the island’s energy transition:

  1. Replication of island-wide storage solutions for fast response ancillary services
  2. Replication of decarbonisation of transport and the use of electric mobility to stabilise the energy system
  3. Replication of circular economy, utilisation of waste streams and gas grid decarbonisation
  4. Replication of decarbonisation of heating network
  5. Replication of active citizen and local energy community engagement

Bora Bora (French Polynesia)

Bora Bora is a small island located in the South Pacific Ocean. It is part of French Polynesia (270 km northwest of Tahiti, Oceania). Bora Bora has 10,605 inhabitants and covers 29 km2, plus some 10 km2 of islets adjacent to the coral reef, forming a lagoon. The centre of the island consists of a dormant volcano with two peaks on each side; Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu. Bora Bora is the most frequently visited island in French Polynesia after Tahiti with 125,000 visitors per year and is known for its luxury resorts.

How IANOS contributes to the island’s energy transition:

  1. Replication of optimisation of dispatch of local energy generators and intra-day balancing services
  2. Replication of island-wide storage solutions for fast response ancillary services
  3. Replication of decarbonisation of transport and the use of electric mobility to stabilise the energy system
  4. Replication of circular economy, utilisation of waste streams and gas grid decarbonisation
  5. Replication of decarbonisation of heating network
  6. Replication of active citizen and local energy community engagement

Nisyros (Greece)

Nisyros is a volcanic Greek island located in the southeast Aegean Sea. It is situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos, with an area of 41.6 km2, and a population of 1,000 inhabitants. The Municipality of Nisyros includes Gyalí, an island with two mines, and 5 other uninhabited islands. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy. Nisyros receives some 70,000 tourists per year for short-term visits (one-day or so), 10,000 for long-term stays and 6,000 arriving by yacht during the summer season.

How IANOS contributes to the island’s energy transition:

  1. Replication of maximisation of self-consumption in the community using demand-side management
  2. Replication of demand side management and smart grid methods to support power quality and congestion management services
  3. Replication of decarbonisation of transport and the use of electric mobility to stabilise the energy system
  4. Replication of decarbonisation of large industrial continuous loads through electrification and local generation
Read more
Skip to content