Porto Santo: The first emission-free island

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Porto Santo

Together with Groupe Renault and EEM in Porto Santo, we have implemented the world's first project in which the three forms of flexibility — smart charging, vehicle-to-grid, and second-life battery storage — are intelligently controlled by a central software platform.

    Vision: Pilot project for the emission-free cities of tomorrow
    Location: Porto Santo, Portuguese island
    Size and population: 42 km², around 5,500 residents and 20,000 tourists
    Conditions: Electricity previously often generated by diesel generators, mild, dry climate, average of 10 hours of sunshine per day
    Milestones: Electricity generation through wind (1.1 MW) and PV systems (2 MW), electric cars as electricity storage, second-life batteries as additional storage, 40 bidirectional charging stations
    Project start: 2018
The project

A prime example of the energy transition

“A completely CO2-free island” was the goal of the joint project with Groupe Renault and the local energy supplier Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira S.A. (EEM). The Portuguese island of Porto Santo wanted to achieve this through the use of photovoltaics, wind power, electric vehicles, and second-life batteries.

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Our solution

Green electricity meets V2G and second life

For the first time, we brought together a unique mix of electric vehicles, smart charging, V2G, and second-life battery storage with wind power and photovoltaic systems. To do this, we developed a charging and energy management system with an intelligent “marketplace.” This optimized the interaction between unidirectional electric cars, stationary second-life battery storage, and bidirectional electric vehicles (vehicle-to-grid, V2G).

"Porto Santo is a laboratory for us to discover how the electric revolution is changing our everyday lives beyond transportation."

Eric Feunteun, Program Director,

Renault EV Global

Successes

An intelligent electrical ecosystem

The project was successfully completed at the end of 2022 and handed over to the responsible energy supplier and partner Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira S.A. (EEM).

Over a period of four years, by establishing the island's smart electrical ecosystem, we were able to gain important insights into the interaction of various players in the energy system and actually increase the use of renewables by operating the networked system. These insights will be reflected in the further development of our technologies.