Smart battery can bring Tilos to 80% green energy

A study by energy storage developer Younicos has found that Tilos could push the share of green energy in its beyond 80% by installing an intelligent battery. The Greek island would thus dramatically reduce its costs for expensive fossil fuel-based power, which is currently transported to the island through an interconnection from the neighboring island of Kos via the island of Nisiros, the company said.

The study even showed that the island could become an exporter of its excess wind and solar power. The energy storage system in Tilos will reduce the load on the strained undersea cable, thus minimizing the risk of blackouts, in addition to the green solutions, according to the press release.

“Our results clearly show how an intelligent grid-forming battery system would allow the island to form a renewables-based microgrid,” said Robert S. Manasse, chief consulting officer of the Younicos Group. “Implementing storage with our intelligent software will enable Tilos to power itself solely from wind and solar energy, with the existing diesel plant used for backup only.”

In conjunction with the island’s 500 inhabitants, project Tilos (Technology Innovation for the Local Scale, Optimum Integration of Battery Energy Storage) aims to create the first global blueprint for smart microgrids. The goal is to facilitate increased participation of renewable energy sources by optimizing the use of energy storage and demand-side management assets. Tilos is part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.

As a member of the consortium, Younicos is responsible for the development of the energy management system and for evaluating the technical and commercial feasibility of the project.