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Clean energy for EU islands
27 May 2020

Combining solar PV, storage & agriculture (Unije, Croatia)

Unije Island is part of the Cres-Lošinj archipelago and constitutes the westernmost part of Primorje Gorski Kotar County (PGKC). The “Unije: self-sufficient island” project started in 2015 as a collaboration between PGKC, KrK Diocese and the City of Mali Lošinj with the objective to revitalize Unije Island and make it energy independent.  REA Kvarner coordinates the project on behalf of the  County PGKC.  

The project activities are ongoing and are being complemented with other projects and sources of funding, such as the H2020 project INSULAE – Maximizing the impact of innovative energy approaches in the EU islands (2019-2023). The DSO is in charge of managing the demand and supply of energy and includes all stakeholders needed in the process (i.e. operators of the water and energy infrastructures, final energy users). The local  community at the island of Unije is informed and consulted about every activity, as their active  participation and support is considered of high importance for reaching the project goals.  

Island Specifics

AREA: 17 km2

NO. OF CONSUMERS: 88 regular inhabitants; twice as much during weekends, 800 tourists per year

GRID: connected to the mainland grid via a 110 kV submarine cable

PROJECT: Unije self-sufficient island (INSULAE)

TOTAL INVESTMENT: 697,000 EUR

FUNDS: Horizon 2020 – Regional Energy Agency Kvarner (REA KVARNER), Ericsson Nikola Tesla d. d. (ENT), Water supply and drainage Cres Lošinj Ltd (VIOCL

Project Specifics

  • Implementation of a battery storage system
  • The INSULAE project complements a 1MW PV plant worth 1,300,000 EUR installed by the national energy company HEP
  • Several domestic 5kW-13,5kWh storage systems  will be acquired and installed in the households
  • Deployment of Smart Boxes connected through 5G p Irrigation and desalination systems will be digitalised



     

More information on the project