The General Assembly and Review Meeting of the MAESHA project has taken place at the EVN premises from the 17th until the 19th of January. The meeting served as an assessment of the milestones reached considering all the work packages and deliverables of the Horizon 2020 EU funded project. Hosted by CyberGrid, it has welcomed 21 organizations from 9 different countries as well as representatives from the European Commission, who joined the session to evaluate the advancements and results of the project.
It can be very complex for islands to achieve the Net Zero Emissions scenario by 2050, as their electrical systems are mainly powered by expensive and polluting imported fossil fuels. In the case of the Mayotte island, PV, wind and biomass can reduce both costs of electricity provision and energy emissions. The project is positively contributing to the local communities in Mayotte and enhancing their power system in multiple ways, such as the following ones:
- Greater stability of the power grid
- Increased access to electricity by more than a 30%
- Leveraging green tourism development by 20%
- Full decarbonization of the transport sector in Mayotte by 2024
- 60% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030
A few highlighted points were the need to boost the communication with the local communities, leverage EV charging stations, and residential and industrial demand response.
There is a huge potential for PV development
The responsible party for managing electricity distribution in the Mayotte island is Electricité de Mayotte (EDM), who is in a situation of monopole. 95% of the electricity production comes from Diesel generators and the remaining 5% comes from recently installed renewable energy plants, mostly PV installations corresponding to 18MW. There is a huge potential for PV development, which is expected to grow annually by 4%. However, the wind production is very low and the current wind power technologies are not facilitating the advancement of this renewable energy source in the island.
There is no electricity transport system in Mayotte. Indeed, the transportation sector reaches a 36% of GHG emissions. There is not enough land available for large-scale expansion of solar PV plants. Other disadvantages are the illegal connection and the fact that their grid is not complying with the European standards. Subsequently, it is a highly polluting energy sector and the electricity prices are very high, which reached up to 383 €/MWh in 2018 - 4 times higher costs than in the mainland -.
Therefore, there is room for improvement and green development, for example, with solar energy and biomass. Furthermore, the project is being replicated in other sites: La Reunion (France), Gozo (Malta), Favignana (Italy), Gran Canaria (Spain), Madeira (Portugal), and Saint Barthélémy (France).
Local energy communities
The local communities are crucial in this project and they are involved in several ways. There are 4 energy communities already created and 7 others about to be created, which benefit students, empower women, and foster a smart, digital and resilient future. These social initiatives are positively impacting the local economy, creating new jobs, and fostering a higher implication of the local population in matters related to a sustainable future as well as knowledge exchange among the communities.
Energy communities created and ongoing
- Student energy community: awareness raising activities by training students to become local ambassadors.
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- EV Maintenance community: training for young people to become (e-)bike technicians.
- Cooperative society of collective interest: to leverage a cleaner e-mobility.
- Solar Mama Community: training to build and repair solar lighting systems and lamps.
Energy communities about to be created
- Repair workshop community: trainings focused on (e-)bike reparation.
- Solar social housing communities: based on the relocation of marginalized communities from metal sheet settlements to low-cost houses. Talus de Majicavo I, Hamachaka, and Massimouni are the sites involved in this initiative.
- Energy saving communities: aims to reduce electricity consumption.
- Agricultural solar community: promoting a self-sufficient agriculture and tourism.
Flexibility management and trading platform
The increasing and large deployment of renewable energy sources and their intermittency require more flexibility solutions to avoid operational constraints on the electrical grid and to balance supply and demand.
MAESHA is expected to enable a penetration of renewable sources of at least 70% of the electricity mix thanks to the flexibility solutions deployed, which can reduce energy costs and upgrade the grid infrastructure. Likewise, the virtual power plant can positively impact their local economy by strengthening their energy independence.
