Importance of islands in renewable energy production and storage: The situation of the French islands

Abstract

The islands are often not or only partially connected to continental electrical networks and have to manage their energy supplies in reaching themselves the production/demand balance while ensuring the quality of the delivered electricity. The low consumption and the lack of interconnections induce higher energy costs than in other regions. For increasing their security, the islands prefer to use indigenous sources as renewable ones; unfortunately, the intermittence and stochastic character of these “fatal” energy sources make them more difficult to manage and it is aggravated in the case of small island networks. The islands are good locations for using and testing new technologies of energy production and storage. Most islands have a good renewable energy (RE) potential often underused. The difficulties of electricity management in island grids are first shown particularly with the impact on the energy production cost. Then, the problem of the integration of renewable energy sources (RES) in island electrical grids is highlighted. The energy situation of French islands is presented with a particular focus on the part of renewable sources. A higher share of renewable energy in the energy mix can be reached only with the development of the energy production efficient prediction, with the development of energy storage means and with an optimal management of the energy flux via the utilization of smart grids.