Sifnos Island Cooperative (SIC - http://sifnosislandcoop.gr/en/index.html) constitutes the first energy cooperative legal scheme in Greek insular territory. Aeolian Land S.A. is proud to collaborate with SIC since January 2016 towards the energy independence of the island of Sifnos. In September 2016, an application was submitted in the Regulatory Authority of Energy for the issuance of the power production license for a hybrid power plant consisted of a wind park and a seawater pumped storage.
The overall power plant is dimensioned in order to ensure the 100% annual electricity penetration in the island, based on the estimated size of the power demand in 2020. This is enabled due to the excellent wind potential, currently measured, in the proposed wind park installation site and the appropriate land morphology, which enables the construction of the seawater pumped storage with the appropriate size and the minimum possible cost.
The hybrid power plant, however, is planned to be only the beginning of a series of accompanying actions towards the energy independence and the sustainable development of the island. With a cluster of passive and active measures for the energy saving and the rational use of energy, potentially introduced especially in the currently ineffective energy consuming tourist infrastructure, annual energy saving percentages at the range of even 40% may be achieved, compared to the existing situation. The reduction on the energy consumption will create the margin for the introduction of new loads, such as electrical vehicles, fostering the gradual elimination of the use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector, initially onshore and, as the second stage, offshore. Additionally, in order to exploit the inevitable energy production surplus from the hybrid power plant, additional loads may be also introduced, such as new desalination units. The production of potable water can lead to the development of new professional activities in the islands, restricting, thus, the current almost exclusive dependence of the local economy on tourism.
The whole energy management strategy is presented in the following figure.
