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Proposal APERTURES. PART B Priority6.1.3.1.1.2 - FP6-2005-TREN-4 p 10 of 49
B.2 Relevance to the objectives of Priority Thematic Area.

Susdev-1.2.3 – New technologies for energy carriers - Electricity'
The goals of APERTURES directly address many of the topics covered in this thematic area.

The specific objectives of the project are to develop key tools and equipment for use in the design and operation of
power systems, which contain significant distributed generation, and as such obviously fall into the topic of
Advanced grid architectures for the integration of DER within local distribution networks.

APERTURES will look specifically at all of the aspects involved when setting up a local distribution network –
RES interface topologies, balance between different energy sources, energy storage (fast and medium speed),
intercommunication to create coordinated control of voltage/power quality within the network, and interface to the
transmission network.

The work here will provide crucial methodologies for the stable control of weaker systems, something which is
now becoming a high priority task for some of the smaller Mediterranean islands, and indeed some of the smaller
islands within bigger continents with relatively low power demand.

It is difficult to over-emphasise the fact that the problems that smaller energy communities are having today will be
the problems seen on national transmission systems as RES increases in popularity.

FAVIGNANA island : A real-scale showcase:
In compliance with the issues of the “Work Programme” – “Integrating and strengthening the European Research
Area”, Thematic Priority 6.1, “Sustainable Energy Systems“, in particular with activity code SUSTDEV-1.1.2,
6.1.3.1.1.2 “Large-scale integration of renewable energy sources into energy supplies”, a clearly definided
geographical area has been identified, which is the island of Favignana (Trapani), Italy, off the western coast of
Sicily in the Egadi islands.
The assessment of the reasearch objectives above will be therefore performed in this island within the local
electrical grid with the objective of integrating RES and efficient demand in the local grid. This will involve the
local utility which is a partner of the project.

2
The island of Favignana (20 km ) has been chosen for its characteristics of being a tourist island like many small
Mediterranean islands which is close the average extension of all the mediterranean islands (about 23
2
km ).population in winter (2000-3000 inhabitants) which is close the average winter population of all the
mediterranean islands (about 2700 inhabitants.
It shares with them such features as:
1. small population in winter and significant increase in summer.
2. lack of electrical connection with the continental utility, with resulting local weak grid.
3. oversize of the conventional fuel based generation system to match the summer energetic demand.
4. large differences between summer and winter electrical energy demands.
5. significant availability of wind and solar resources.
6. constraints on environmental issues which require low pollutant emissions and low aesthetic impact.

It is to be noted that the specific problems found in FAVIGNANA are very similar to a great majority of other
islands, making the results of the project potentially very attractive for the said communities.
Specifically it could be generalised to cover other Mediterranean communities (see page on global economic
impact).

This project therefore should be considered to be investigating test bed scenarii, and the sample case studies(in the
island of Favignana and Maribor Alpine resort) have been chosen to verify and assess the envisaged solution for
the above thematics concerning the introduction of RES in existing grids. Many of the control methodologies
investigated in this project and assessed in the case study will be applicable to higher power and higher voltage
transmission systems of the future.

APERTURES can therefore be considered to contribute to the other topics within the call, especially operation
concepts and tools for maximising the value of DG/RES in electrical power systems, advanced power electronic
converters for the future European electricity network, preparing the future European electricity transmission
networks and co-ordination action for European Distributed Energy Resources. In particular the project will
contribute to the central issues of:-