Project SMILE – Smart IsLand Energy systems – Madeira
Project SMILE
The Smart Islands Energy System (SMILE) project is a collaboration of nineteen partners from various European countries. The European Union’s ‘Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme’ proudly funds the SMILE project. The program will demonstrate nine different smart grid technologies on three different islands. These are thus the Orkneys (UK), Samsø (DK) and Madeira (PT).
These three islands will test different combinations of technological solutions. However, the mix of technologies will depend on local specificities and existing infrastructures.
Nine technologies
These nine technologies are demonstrated and further developed on the three pilot islands. They vary from the integration of battery technology, power to heat, power to fuel, pumped hydro, electric vehicles, electricity stored on board of boats, an aggregator approach to demand side management (DSM) to predictive algorithms.
Madeira
Madeira is famous for its beauty, its climate and as a tourist destination. However, in this cases Madeira is the only total energy island of the three. This means that there is no connection to the continent or mainland for electricity. All energy consumed on Madeira is also generated on Madeira.
Solar Energy
It is a very difficult task to balance the grid between incoming and outgoing energy. This is even more difficult with the increased amounts of solar energy generation. The peaks in solar radiation do not correspond with the peaks in electricity demand. Furthermore, solar energy is not completely predictable and this complicates the issue even further.
SMILE and Madeira
Hence, the SMILE project will help Madeira to implement an intelligent control and automation system of the electricity grid. This will enable a better reliability. Another SMILE goal is to evaluate BESS – battery electrical storage systems and how to integrate them on Madeira.
Here is the RTP Madeira news articles about SMILE – Click here Furthermore, for all those interested in the specifications and assessment of Madeira’ Energy Grid, please have a look at this document
