Electricity and hot water from renewable sources through district heating are provided for the residents of Ai-Strati by the pilot project, aiming at the transformation of the island into a green one. Meanwhile, the “package” of the interventions includes electric vehicles for the needs of the Municipality and energy saving interventions in municipal buildings.According to the mayor of the island, Ms Maria Kakali, the contract has already been signed between TERNA Energy and the Center for Renewable Sources and Energy Saving concerning the construction of a hybrid station for the electricity and heating production from renewable sources in the island. The station consists of a wind turbine, photovoltaic, batteries and Energy Management and Control System through which it is expected the 85% of the energy needs of the island to be covered by the Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The existing diesel power plant of the Public Power Corporation will remain in operation to meet the needs when the weather conditions do not allow the green energy production and the batteries are exhausted, but also for safety reasons.Furthermore, the electricity produced by the hybrid station will supply a district heating system that will include central units of heat production and storage (hot water tanks), as well as the thermal energy distribution network to final consumers (an underground hot water transmission network will be constructed in the settlement of Ai-Strati)
The project already under the National Strategic Reference Framework also includes the implementation of energy upgrading interventions at the municipal buildings (schools, town hall, market, assembly centers, etc.) Also the Municipality will be supplied with electric cars and motorcycles for its needs. The vehicles will be charged with green energy from the island network.
The total budget of the project amounts to 7.7 million euros and the construction time is estimated to 25 months. There is indeed an increased focus on the operational results (in terms of technological, managerial and institutional interest ), since examples of combining a hybrid Renewable Energy Sources (RES) system with district heating in an autonomous system are almost non-existent worldwide.