ROBINSON
ROBINSON aims to develop an integrated energy system to help decarbonise (industrialised) islands.
To this end, the project will develop and deploy an integrated, smart and cost-efficient energy system coupling thermal and electrical networks, which will optimise the utilisation of local renewable energy sources.
Through the development of a smart, modular and optimised Energy Management System (EMS), ROBINSON will integrate newly developed and/or adapted technologies, such as a small gas turbine based combined heat and power; anaerobic digester assisted by bioelectrochemical systems to enable the conversion of liquid waste into biomethane; a mobile innovative wind turbine; a gasifier to covert bio-waste; as well as hydrogen-related technologies (electrolyser and storage system).
The ROBINSON EMS will be developed with the local communities for the local communities with the aim to bring relevant business opportunities, while making sure that the fragile environment of the island is preserved. It will ensure an efficient and smart integration of all distributed energy resources (DER), energy surpluses, and storage capacities available on the island, while considering demand-side response, power balancing, weather forecast and market-related costs. This integrated system will ensure a reliable, cost-efficient and resilient energy supply contributing to the decarbonisation of the European islands by helping to decrease CO2 emissions.
The island
Islands have the potential to become frontrunners in the decarbonisation of energy system and in advancing the energy transition, in Europe and worldwide. However, the concept of one-fits-all cannot be applied to islands: RES penetration, weather and geographical conditions, population, tourism, distance from mainland and presence of industries make the energy needs of each islands unique.
The islands need clean, cost-efficient and reliable solutions tailored to fit their geographical situation, the fluctuating population and the local economy. Combining the intermittent RES with suitable storage, together with other available dispatchable sources such as biomass, along with a variety of operational strategies such as demand side management and management of all the available energy vectors, represents a huge challenge but also an immense business opportunity for the European Island.
ROBINSON aims to help islands in this transition through the development and demonstration of a modular energy management system, as well as energy and storage technologies. The system will be demonstrated on the island of Eigerøy (Norway) and lab-scale level replication studies will be conducted for the island of Crete (Greece) and the Western Isles (United Kingdom).
Eigerøy 
Crete 
Western Isles 
News & Events
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 957752.