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Proposal APERTURES. PART B Priority6.1.3.1.1.2 - FP6-2005-TREN-4 p 13 of 49
B.3 Potential impact

Strategic impact “the island and Alpine models”
The EU sustainable energy strategy aims to become progressively less dependent on fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse
gas and pollutant emissions and increase the contribution of renewable energy sources providing small scale power
at sites close to users. Distributed Generation will play a key role in this strategy.
APERTURES aims to have a major impact on enriching the research environment using Renewable Energy
Sources and DG, and thus will help to reduce pollution and save energy.
The Distributed Generation model will create a new era where millions of users will become both producers
and consumers of electricity. All these generators will be connected through a fully interactive intelligent
electrical network. This new system will require sophisticated control, innovative communication technologies, and
new power electronics systems to control the routing of electricity and to provide flexible DG interfaces to the
network (and loads), and high levels of power quality. APERTURES will investigate all of these important areas
using a systematic and structured set of tasks and workpackages to integrate the different expertise and each
partner. The ultimate aim is the development of co-ordinated control and power electronic technologies for
intelligent, rational and efficient conversion and distribution of renewable power.2 case studies in a sample island
(Favignana) and Alpine resort (Maribor region) will be examined to assess the impact of RES into an already
existing grids. The choice of the experimental showcase locations was made so as to give an opportunity to learn
and achieve results in places that are not conventional with regard to the huge urban life models , and imposing the
constraint of success with a high level of ecological performance.
Although in their topology and typology both networks operators are different , offering a high contrast for
experimental purposes, they are similar in the way they want to serve ecologically highly demanding communities

Added Value at European Level : “Green on Grid”.
The European Directive n°2001/77/CE explicitly promotes renewable energy sources, because they contribute to
the protection of the environment and to the sustainable development, and help to achieve more easily the targets of
the protocol of Kyoto on the climatic changes in the framework of the United Nations.
APERTURES is within the policy lines of the European Community, which include substantial policies on
renewables with a view to achieving the 12% renewables target set for 2010 and strenghten the enhanced
penetration of renewables for contributing both to better energy security and reduced CO 2 emissions and therefore
help to meet the EU’s international obligations, as explicitly recalled by the “Action Plan to Improve Energy
Efficiency in the European Community”.
APERTURES therefore proposes the implementation of a strategy called “Green on Grid”.
It aims to improve the electric energy management of tourist islands in the Mediterranean area by means of green
sources, that is sources which are non-pollutant and inexhaustible. Its main aim fits therefore into the
recommendation of the SUSTDEV 1.2.2 for substantially improving ”the performance of energy systems for
existing communities, aiming to improve the sustainability of their systems”. From the energy standpoint, this
situation is common in most Mediterranean tourist islands. On average these islands present a mean number of
inhabitants of xx with average electric energy consumptions ranging from xx kW in summer and xx kW in winter,
with significant seasonal variations. In addition all of these islands are regulated by strict rules about environment
and pollution. They provide a harsh test (politically speaking) for the inclusion of any new technologies.

APERTURES aims to find criteria, as well as theoretical and practical methodologies, for ensuring the optimal
management of the electrical energy from renewable sources in Favignana. For this reason it addresses three
aspects of the management of the renewable energy: its conversion, its distribution and its quality. These three
aspects of energy management fall within the framework of global European energy saving and reduction of
pollution.
To meet all the challenges of the project , only an European R&D consortium could join together different
expertise, distributed in various institutes in the different countries, coming from the domains in the fields of
electrical machines and drives, electrical power plants, power electronics, automatic control, artificial intelligence,
data processing and signal processing.
Links with national or international research activities:
APERTURES is a follow-up of other European projects of the 5th European Project :Program EESD: energy,
environment and sustainable development (1999-2002), Key Action 5, Cleaner Energy Systems including
renewable energies. It explicitly recalls the Project ENIRDG NET “European Network for Integration of
Renewable Sources and Distributed Generation (ENK5-CT-2001-20528), and the project MED2010 “Large scale
integration of PV and wind power in Mediterranean countries”, (ENK5-CT-2000-00307).