(RESPIRE) Renewable energy sources promotion and integration in insular regions of Europe

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources
Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electric power conversion)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)

Basic and strategic applied research
Applied Research and Development

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Applied Mathematics)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting
Systems Analysis related to energy R&D
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy

Dr C Bronsdon
Scottish Energy Environment Foundation

3

Carbon Trust

01 September 2003

30 August 2006

35 months

£85,468

Scotland

Dr C Bronsdon, Scottish Energy Environment Foundation

Project Contact, Ramboll UK Ltd
Project Contact, Argyll and Bute Council
Project Contact, Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Strathclyde
Project Contact, Islay Development Company

To demonstrate the ability of renewable energy to satisfy the majority of an isolated community's energy demands, via the introduction of energy efficiency and demand side management to reduce and reshape the demand profile to one that can be satisfied by renewables.

The European Union has set a target of 12% of electricity consumption to be supplied by Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by 2010. In order for this to be met not only must RES be installed but knowledge needs to be obtained about the shape and form of both thermal and electrical demand profiles favourable to RE supply. SEEF and the University of Strathclyde (UoS), with financial backing from the Carbon Trust, are undertaking vital work as part of the EC Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) RESPIRE project. This wider project sets out to increase the share of thermal and electrical energy consumption supplied from RES at five European island locations from its present level of 17% to 53% by 2005, and to ultimately demonstrate the feasibility of 100% penetration by 2020. SEEF and UoS are focusing their efforts on a UK demonstration site, the island of Islay, off the west coast of Scotland. RES already exist on Islay, with the world's first commercial wave power station (LIMPET) being located there, and other RES plants are planned. The project aims to identify how best to integrate new and existing RE plant, to quantify the impact this will have on the island's energy balance and to develop longer-term strategies to enable the island to meet all its energy demands from renewables technologies. By carrying out these integration studies and monitoring the resulting extended network, an understanding of the demand/supply match, power quality, network controllability and socio-economic impacts will be obtained. This will guide those involved in the promotion of high RES penetration in other communities to match electricity production to demand correctly. This is critical if high penetration RES is to be a viable source of reliable power in these communities.

01/01/07