Greek island of Kythnos demonstrates smart energy technologies

The Siemens-funded ‘Kythnos Smart Island’ project has been completed, demonstrating smart energy technologies as part of a holistic infrastructure upgrade.

The four-year project on the Greek island, located between Kea and Serifos about 100km southeast of the port of Piraeus, was aimed to provide a testing ground for a range of innovative technologies implemented ‘holistically’.

With clean and smart energy technologies at the heart, it also was considered important to address water, waste and transport in correlation in such an insular environment.

Among the energy interventions in the project were the renovation and upgrading of an off-grid microgrid at Gaidouromandra in the south of the island, the installation of smart meters, batteries and a demand response platform in private and municipal buildings and energy upgrades of municipal buildings including the introduction of heat pumps and PVs.

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A public and private electric vehicle charging network was installed in collaboration with hotels and restaurants on the island and a door-to-door recyclable waste collection system with the use of light utility EVs was implemented.

Alongside these actions, others included the redesign and energy retrofitting of the street and public space lighting, the installation of three new desalination plants along with an upgrade of the existing water distribution network, the development of a prototype centre for green waste management, the ‘smart’ and ‘green’ upgrade of a local marina and public space regeneration and traffic management interventions in the three main settlements.

Kythnos has now effectively demonstrated sector coupling and can be considered to be “a real example of applying the principles of sustainable development and circular economy by integrating elements of technological and social innovation” with results and experience that other islands can use.

In particular, these should be of benefit to the Greek government’s ‘GR-eco Islands’ initiative, which is aimed to transform the Greek islands into innovations hubs and models of the green, energy and digital transitions.

The Kythnos Smart Island project was funded with €8 million by Siemens within the framework of the settlement agreement with the Hellenic Republic.

The project was implemented by the DAFNI Greek island network and the National Technical University of Athens.