Abstract
This article aims to present the potential of energy transition in insular systems for social and economic transition and development, when planned and implemented appropriately, with the active involvement of local communities. To this end, the example of Sifnos Energy Community is examined and presented as a pilot case. It proves that energy transition, apart from its obvious energy conservation and climate necessity, can provide a strong contribution to the development of remote areas and the remedying of crucial issues, especially in insular communities, such as unemployment, low standards of living, isolation and energy supply security. Energy transition on Sifnos has been undertaken by the Sifnos Energy Community (SEC), with the target to achieve 100% energy independency through effective and rational projects. The major project is a centralized hybrid power plant consisting of a wind park and a pumped hydro storage system. It was designed to fully cover the current electricity demand and the anticipated forthcoming load due to the overall transition to e-mobility for the transportation sector on the island. Through the exploitation of the excess electricity production with the production of potable water and hydrogen, energy transition can facilitate the development of new professional activities on the island and reduce the local economy’s dependence on tourism. Additionally, a daily link to the neighboring larger Cyclades islands can be established with a hydrogen powered-passenger vessel, ensuring the secure and cheap overseas transportation connection of Sifnos throughout the whole year. The overall energy transition process is executed with the active involvement of the Sifnos citizens, ensuring wide public acceptance and the minimization of the projects’ impacts on the natural and human environment. At the same time, the anticipated benefits for the insular communities are maximized, highlighting the energy transition process on Sifnos as a new sustainable development pattern. For all this effort and the already achieved results, Sifnos has been declared as one of the six pilot islands of the European Community’s initiative “Clean Energy for EU Islands”.
Highlights
The Sifnos Energy Community (SEC)’s initiative, through the design and the development of the hybrid power plant, has the following innovative features at the global level:. It is the first project at the global level involving a hybrid power plant based on the combined operation of a wind park and pumped hydro storage (PHS) system operating with seawater
It is the first project at the global level with a sizing which aims at 100% electricity demand coverage in an autonomous, non-interconnected insular electrical system
The hybrid power plant presented in this article features as the main symbol of energy transition on Sifnos
Summary
Non-interconnected island, either with the mainland system or with a neighboring insular grid, located in the western part of the Cyclades complex in the Aegean Sea, Greece (Figure 1), with a population of 2625 and a total area of 73.9 km2 [1]. The economy on Sifnos is based on tourism. More than 75% of the human resources on the island are occupied in jobs related to tourism [2,3] (apart from human health, education and administration)
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