Brussels, 9^th January 2024 – The latest technical review meeting of the ISLANDER project, held in Brussels, highlighted important milestones in the project’s journey and provided a comprehensive overview of the project’s progress during the reporting period from April 2022 to September 2023.

This meeting provided a platform for work package leaders AYESA, idener, elmy, EMEC and SiG to engage with the Project Officer and discuss various aspects of the project, including the advancements in the technology deployments on the island of Borkum, the development of the Smart IT Platform, the Demand Response App, the Replication to follower islands and the creation of an energy community on Borkum.

Through collective efforts from all project partners, the ISLANDER project was able to overcome challenges posed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and made important progress during this reporting period. Key advancements of the various work packages are summarised below.

WP1: Optimal holistic design of the energy system

This work package included the determination of locations for various installations like ultra caps, Li-ion batteries, hydrogen-based storage, EV charging stations, seawater district heating, and systems to link the island’s energy grids. Additionally, the selection of users (homes and buildings) for RESS solutions was successfully completed.

Another important part of this work package is the development of an Open-source tool for the optimal design of island’s energy systems. During the last period, first steps have been taken towards the development of the tool by defining the characteristics, functionalities and modules that the tool should consist of. The tool will be part of the Smart IT platform that is being developed in ISLANDER.

WP2: Large-scale deployment of the DER+HES solutions

For the successful deployment of various DER+HES solutions on the pilot island of Borkum, this work package defined the design, size and required equipment of each solution. Additionally, a detailed plan for the installation processes was drawn up, local installers were contracted and communication requirements for the Smart IT platform were defined. The different systems included in this work package are:

• • • • A Hydrogen-based storage system: The system is currently being manufactured. The communication requirements have been largely defined, and testing is about to begin.
        • Large Energy Storage Systems: Various power electronic components have been manufactured, tested and are functioning correctly. Pending work relates to the integration of the solutions, both mechanically and in terms of communication and control between components.
        • RESS Household solutions: Installations in 30 households have been completed. Communication tests with the Smart IT platform have been successful and tests are currently being carried out with the systems recently installed in Borkum.
        • RESS Building solutions: The installations were performed together with the RESS Household solutions. Communication tests will be performed once the inverters are available.
        • EV charging stations: Suitable technology suppliers for the 5 EV charging stations were identified and the partners decided to relay on V1G charging stations. Currently suitable installation companies are being sought.
        • Seawater district heating: A final provider for the seawater district heating system has been selected. The partners are currently working on a time plan for the deployment of the system.
        • Street Lighting network: To integrate the street lighting network to the Smart IT Platform, a connection via VPN was developed. Currently, the integration of assets and mock-ups is ongoing.

WP3: Digitalisation of the energy system

This work package focused on connecting the devices to be installed on the island of Borkum to the Smart IT platform. Progress includes the integration of households, EV chargers, lighting systems, battery storage and building devices.

WP4: Improved multi-scale forecasting

In this work package the development of multiple forecasting systems was achieved:

• Individual energy demand forecast
• Individual renewable supply generation forecast models
• Weather forecasting
• Energy price forecasting
• Macroscopic energy supply and demand forecasting models

Learn more here.

WP5: Smart IT platform for high flexibility services

In WP5, progress was made in the development of the Smart IT platform for highly flexible services. Key achievements include the successful implementation of registration and device management services. Progress has also been made on the optimisation algorithms for the operation of energy assets on the platform, which are important for operational services, audit services and demand management.

WP6: Demonstration and validation

This work package focuses on demonstrating and validating the integration of all the equipment on the Smart IT platform. This task will be able to progress once all installations have been completed.

WP7: Creation of a Renewable Energy Community

In WP7, a feasibility study for the ISLANDER Energy Community and a citizen engagement information pack were published. To kick-off the citizen engagement process on Borkum, the first citizen engagement workshop was held in November 2023, informing the citizens of Borkum about the Renewable Energy Community. Learn more here.

WP8: Replication of project results

This work package focusses on the replication of the ISLANDER project and activities on Borkum to other European islands; follower islands and archipelagos. A detailed replication methodology has been created and this has been shared with project partners representing different follower islands.

WP9: Exploitation, dissemination, and communication

In order to guide further exploitation steps, a technology watch for specific results was carried out in WP9. The communication and dissemination plan was revised and the production of a project video started, which will be released in September 2024. The project partners participated in 3 conferences and presented the project at 5 other events and workshops.

Outlook to future steps

As the ISLANDER project progresses, the focus will beon the completion of all installations on the island of Borkum. The upcoming testing phase promises to provide valuable insights into the real-world effectiveness of the solutions implemented. As the project prepares for its next series of exciting milestones, we look forward to updating you on its progress very soon.