The Aegean Energy Agency participates in the approved HORIZON 2020 project WiseGRID

The Aegean Energy Agency participates along with 20 more partners in the consortium that will start implementing the WiseGRID project as of 1 November and for the next 3,5 years.

WiseGRID is among the 5 projects approved in the framework of the HORIZON 2020 LCE2 call “Demonstration of smart grid, storage and system integration technologies with increasing share of renewables: distribution system” of the Competitive Low Carbon Economy Pillar. The overall aim of WiseGRID is to contribute to Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy by increasing the use of RES though the promotion and demonstration of innovative and smart technologies, namely :

• Electricity distribution grid management
• Energy storage
• Smart transport integration in the electricity network
• Flexible management of electricity loads

WiseGRID foresees 5 demo sites for the deployment of new, innovative and smart technologies, one of which will be the island of Kythnos. The demo in Kythnos represents the only project in a non-interconnected island system. The role of the Aegean Energy Agency will mainly to provide technical support of the Municipality of Kythnos in the design and deployment of innovative pilot applications on the island.

For Kythnos the project foresees setting-up a state-of-the-art integrated electricity system that includes:

• EV charging stations
• Procurement of EVs
• Energy storage systems (batteries) for public/municipal buildings
• Equipment for the optimization of the operation of a desalination plant
• Energy storage systems (batteries)to increase RES penetration in the local energy mix
• Equipment for the flexible and optimal operation of electricity network, increasing the interactive communication with consumers
• Other new grid management applications

The knowledge and best practices produced in Kythnos will help demonstrate that islands can indeed host pilot projects and produce knowledge on smart and efficient resource and infrastructure management, which may be then transferred in mountainous, rural and generally geographically isolated areas but also scaled-up in big cities of continental Europe and beyond.