EU - Caribbean Thematic Priority Setting Workshop "Research and Innovation in ENERGY�
Authors: MENON Network, EUCARINET Caribbean partners
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Copyright notice: Copyright Š APRE. EUCARINET (Strengthening sustainable scientific cooperation between Europe and the Caribbean) is a project co-funded by the European Commission in its 7th Framework Programme under the Grant Agreement no 244510 running from 1st April. 2010 to 30th March 2014. The information contained in this document reflects only the author's views and the Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Topics, research lines and mutual benefit issues discussed during the Workshop ...................................................................................... 6 Topics and Research lines discussed .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 GEOTHERMAL- ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Benefit................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Research lines proposed: .................................................................................................................................................................... 7 PHOTOVOLTAIC- .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Benefit................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Research line proposed: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8 WIND -.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Benefit................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Research lines proposed: .................................................................................................................................................................. 10 ENERGY EFFICIENCY ......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Research lines .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Benefit.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Research lines proposed ................................................................................................................................................................... 10 COOLING.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Benefit.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Research lines proposed: .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 GRIDS/ELECTRICITY NETWORKS ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Benefit.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Research line proposed .................................................................................................................................................................... 12 BIOFUELS .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Gaps................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Proposed research lines .................................................................................................................................................................... 14 CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 KNOWLEDGE FOR ENERGY POLICY MAKING.......................................................................................................................................... 14
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EU - Caribbean thematic priority setting Workshop "Research and innovation in energy"
-Report-
UniversitĂŠ des Antilles et de la Guyane, Pointe-Ă -Pitre, Guadeloupe, 6-7 July, 2011
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Introduction
European and Caribbean countries share the challenge of reducing their CO2 emissions and providing respective societies with low carbon technologies, able to make their living conditions greener and more sustainable. Despite of some relevant differences within the Caribbean area and with the European countries (in terms of energy research development, local priorities and link between the research and the industry), both regions have adopted programmes and initiatives in order to tackle this issue, identifying needs and technologies to provide sustainability in their use and development of energy sources. On a bilateral level, the European Union and the Latin American countries adopted, in the occasion of the sixth EU/LAC meeting, the EU-LAC Action Plan 2010-2012, identifying some key areas and activities in the framework of a common Work Plan, to be implemented by 2012. Among them, the area 3 is related to: “Sustainable development, environment, climate change biodiversity and energy1”. At European level, the European Commission adopted, in 2008 the SET-Plan, Strategic Energy Plan, aiming at accelerating knowledge development, technology transfer and up-take in the energy sector, fostering at the same time science for transforming energy technologies to achieve the 2020 Energy and Climate Change goals2. A specific “volet” on International Cooperation makes part of the Programme, even if US, Japan, China and India represent the main focus in the current activities. The CARICOM (Caribbean Community) on its side, has agreed that a more targeted approach and strategic framework are needed and is therefore now developing a Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS), to establish a regional roadmap and strategy approach to for advancing sustainable energy (renewable energy and energy efficiency). Further initiatives and energy programmes, taken at national or regional level (the Energy Plan of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe among them) represent concrete efforts by public institutions in order to contribute to the development and adoption of new energy technologies. This document reports the results of the “EU - Caribbean thematic priority setting Workshop: Research and innovation in energy”, promoted by the EUCARINET project and held in Guadeloupe on the 6-7 July, 2011. The event aimed at identifying research lines and scientific priorities of common interest and benefit, by learning from Caribbean researchers. This was the last of four workshops foreseen by the project, the previous ones having taken place in Santo Domingo in March 2011 and having focused on Health, KBBE and Environment.
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1The following “Expected results are mentioned in the Action plan: “Implementation of projects, in areas such as energy efficiency and saving and renewable energy,… leading to increased regional integration and social inclusion and cohesion, including technological transfer and innovation when appropriate. 2 The EU aims to reach its 20-20-20 goals by 2020, that is: a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions, a 20% share of energy from low-carbon energy sources and 20% reduction in the use of primary energy by improving energy efficiency
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Expert name Marie Ange Arsene
Expert role Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert
Ruddy Blonbou
Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert
Joseph Williams Oswin Martina José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio
Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert
Pedro Almonte Iindra Haraksingh Claude Martin McNamarah Bernard Sanjuan
Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert Caribbean Energy Scientific Expert European Energy Scientific Expert
Keji Alex Adunmo
EUCARINET Team
Jimena Arango Jean Heinrich Daugrois
EUCARINET Team EUCARINET Team
Marco Carulli
EU Expert
Organisation UAG – Université des Antilles et de Guyane UAG – Université des Antilles et de Guyane CARICOM – Caribbean Community University of Curaçao EWPC-AF -Electricity Without Price Controls (Architecture Framework UNIBE – Universidad Iberoamericana UWI – University of West Indies UWI – University of West Indies BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières APRE – Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea MENON Network CIRAD – Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement ENEA – Italian National agency for New technologies, Energy and Sustainable economic development
Topics, research lines and mutual benefit issues discussed during the Workshop
The workshop’s discussions, based on the presentation of a group of experienced researchers from the Caribbean countries, lead to the identification of some topics of importance for potential EU/Car cooperation reflecting, at the same time, the strengths and weaknesses of each region. A quite variegated set of research areas were presented, the researchers providing with a good overview on the current state of the art of the energy research in the Caribbean 3. Several topics were on mutual interest and the potential added values of bilateral research cooperation were spotted. The following research lines and priorities were identified in the framework of energy technologies currently being developed in the region.
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The coverage of topics may not be complete and other research themes may integrate those discussed in the occasion of the workshop.
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Topics and Research lines discussed
GEOTHERMALThe Caribbean region presents high geothermal potential to produce electricity in most of its islands. Despite this, only one power station is currently operative (Bouillante, in Guadeloupe), geothermal energy exploration remaining relatively new for many of the Caribbean islands (the island of Nevis is trying to develop the use of its GE resource in a short term). The possibility of exploiting geothermal energy for producing electricity and cooling systems in a sustainable way represents a valuable research line that, if further exploited and implemented at regional level, could lead to positive outcomes (both in terms of CO2 emissions and economic interests). Research is currently going on in the drilling aspects of geothermal energy, the knowledge and access to geothermal resources and the understanding of the geothermal reservoirs. Gaps It is important for the region, to develop appropriate methods and tools to better know and understand the geothermal resources, reduce the drilling costs, develop binary and cooling systems, especially for those countries presenting some geothermal potentials and not having already exploited this source. The potential of geothermal resources provided by volcanoes should be further explored, possibly focusing the research on the geological issue of instability of the reservoirs, on groundwater supplies and on the development of geothermal pumps. Benefit Potential benefit for a cooperation between the two regions could be based on the energy derived from geothermal resources present in this area: current French project (aiming at linking the two French Oversea Territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique to Dominica through grids fed by geothermal generated energy) could be an aspect providing the whole region with a sustainable source of energy, as well as potential economic profitability in the realization of grids linking different islands for Europe. Further focus on geothermal could be interesting for its use related to house cooling. Research lines proposed: 1. “Development of High Temperature Geothermal Energy in the volcanic Caribbean islands in order to produce electricity and cooling systems and reduce CO2 emissions following a high quality environment procedure” 2. “Geothermal energy development and exploitation for the whole Caribbean region”
PHOTOVOLTAICDue to the geographical position and the climate conditions of the Caribbean countries, several research institutes are carrying out research in the photovoltaic sector. The University of West Indies, in particular, is involved in some research lines on the 7|Page Figure 1 Lycée Haute Qualité Environnementale de Port de Louise - Guadeloupe
performance of PV under tropical climatic conditions, with special regard to cells’ performance and system sizing and design. Research, in particular, is currently focused on and manufacturing techniques on energy yield within the Caribbean environmental context. Another research line carried out by UWI aims at determining the factors affecting the dye sensitized solar cells. The PV related research activity at UAG focuses on the development of operational tools to deal with the intermittent nature of PV electricity that limits its penetration rate in island utility grids and causes the optimal sizing of autonomous PV based power supply system difficult. Gaps Deeper knowledge on PV systems’ performance, as well as on manufacturing processes are needed, public funding available for research organizations still being not relevant enough. Although the effects of climate on PV performance is recognised, an initial investigation has also shown that for modules made of a given PV material, the manufacturing processes and constituent cell specifications can also drastically affect power yield. This area of research is greatly underrepresented and would allow for optimizing module design. An active area of research is the modeling of the processes within dye sensitized cells. While the commercially available dyes have very high electron excitation efficiency (upwards of 90%), the overall efficiency of the cell is very low. The drawdown in efficiency is generally attributed to the losses in electron transfer between the dye and the titanium oxide. An understanding of the factors that affect the electron mobility within this complex cell is essential to improve the performance. Benefit Manufacturing systems and testing technologies developed in the European countries can be a potential area of collaboration between the two regions, considering the common climate and environmental factors that some of the southern European countries share with the Caribbean. Further, with regard to the second research line, a lot of research is currently going on in Europe with regard to materials for Photovoltaic. Being the research carried out in Jamaica, based on the exploration of new materials (titanium oxide among them) collaboration between the two regions could represent an interesting framework of collaboration also for the European countries and research organizations that are already working in this domain. Research line proposed: “Photovoltaic module performance under Caribbean conditions”
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WIND Due to the specific climatic and thermal conditions in the Caribbean area, special applications of wind turbines are currently being explored in some of these countries. Said conditions can have an effect on the integrity and safety of the small wind generators, like thermal, photochemical, corrosive, mechanical, electrical actions or other physical actions. Further, it has to be considered that local storms and tropical hurricanes represent an obstacle in the deployment of “ordinary� wind turbines on the Caribbean and Central America territory, subjecting the turbines to resist extreme wind speeds in a short time. Some solutions have already been adopted, like in Guadeloupe, where, in the case of hurricane alert, some Wind turbines can be rapidly brought on the ground and then re-assembled or like in Cuba, where some research centers have produced prototypes fitting to Figure 2 Mechanic Retractable System in Wind farm - Grand Maison, Guadeloupe. local conditions and where wind turbines tower can be lying during hurricanes. This technology was already tested in extreme wind speed conditions with acceptable results in the Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. Cuba has had enough experience in the evaluation and measurement of the wind resource using more than 80 measurement wind tower along the country. Four wind farms are installed in Cuba with different technology to testing them, totalling 11.7 MW. Gaps In the Caribbean region there seems to be no real manufacturing of Small Wind Turbines (the majority of manufacturers coming from Europe, China and United States) and the experience in the design of this machines is very limited, real training of staff still being needed. On the other hand, it is necessary to adapt and developed small wind technology to be work with low wind speed, and to carefully evaluate natural conditions that may affect the performance and durability of wind farms: aggressive corrosive humid tropical climate with high exposure characteristics of marine, coastal flood risk caused by storm and hurricanes; risk of corrosion; risk of geological instability caused by the geological structures of the region and for being in a region of moderate seismic risk. Benefit A lot of the research currently carried out in Europe relates to the offshore wind as well as to the materials of the turbine. Presenting similar conditions as the Caribbean (i.e, the presence of the sea and saline water), common collaboration could be of interest for the European research, currently focusing on better adaptation of wind power electronics to the marine environment. The transfer of the European experiences can be very useful for the development and adaptation of small wind turbines to the Caribbean and Central American region climate conditions and the creation of capacities for local industrial development in this area.
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Research lines proposed: “Design and manufacture of small wind turbines for Caribbean and Central American area (CAC area) climate conditions“
ENERGY EFFICIENCY Given the particular climatic conditions of the Caribbean countries, a lot of research and testing is currently in progress. Smart and rationale use of energy seems to be at the top of the agenda in this energy sector, considering also the intensive use of air conditioning in residential and tourism buildings. Some disparities seem to be present in the Caribbean countries, with regard to this topic. In the Dominican Republic and in Guadeloupe some
Research lines Are considering sustainable methodologies to better respond Figure 3 Wind Farm Transformer - Grand maison, Guadeloupe to energy efficiencies in residential buildings. Methodologies and technologies currently being analyzed relate to concepts such as housing passive thermal protection, intelligent power dispatching, energy storage optimization and monitoring. Gaps Legislation and regulations (with parameters specific for the Caribbean countries) seem to affect a harmonized and shared methodology for the deployment of concrete and efficient energy efficiency rules. Specific information for each territory in order to establish potential for improvement in efficiency through greater use of RET and EET is currently missing. Furthermore, awareness arising through communication and promotional campaigns is an aspect that should be taken into consideration (the EU Interreg Caraibes and Energy Intelligent Europe have been identified as possible tools for funding such promotional initiatives in the region). Benefit Building designs and performance benchmarks have been addressed a long time in many European countries: working together on this issue, could be of benefit for southern European countries, which could exploit the findings and results on such benchmarks, to be developed in the Caribbean. Research lines proposed 1. “Establishing Performance Benchmarks for Energy Efficient or Low Carbon Commercial Buildings in CARICOM”, 2. “Housing passive thermal protection”.
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COOLING Caribbean countries share similar climatic conditions and energy profiles, solar insolation representing a critical factor and houses/districts cooling being a key research focus for the region. Lot of efforts in the energy research area are currently focusing on the conditioning of the residential and tourism buildings, possibly exploiting techniques related to geothermal sources or solar thermal. Researchers also see the presence of sea water in the region as a potential benefit for the cooling of residential and industries districts through its use (capital and pumping representing the main challenges for a correct deployment of these technologies on the whole set of Caribbean islands).
Gaps The technology is mature and utilized in European countries, particularly Austria, technology and specific expertise is not available yet in the whole Caribbean region, and technology transfer through international cooperation is needed as well as establishing conditions for economic competitiveness. Figure 4 Energy Production Plant & Cooling System, Lycée HQC de Port Louise, Guadeloupe
Benefit As some European countries (like Netherlands and Sweden) have deep lake cooling and several European countries have good marine construction capabilities, a share of expertise between the two regions could be of mutual benefit in order to improve the skills and know how in the Caribbean region and to acquire further information (on extreme conditions) for the European researchers. Research lines proposed: 1”Identification of Cost Effective Solar Cooling Designs and Applications for Commercial Buildings in CARICOM”. 2. “Sea Water Air Conditioning” 3.” Absorption cooling systems using solar thermal”
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GRIDS/ELECTRICITY NETWORKS Integration of renewable energies (wind, solar, etc.) in existing electricity network is an aspect currently being analyzed in the Caribbean: the replacement of conventional generation technology by renewable energies is introducing a substantial change of dynamic and stability pattern of interconnected transmission and distribution systems. These studies (as in Curaçao) are currently focusing on the grids’ performance through renewables (in this case photovoltaic), as well as on the factors conditioning degeneration of load supply reliability. As the introduction of renewable energies shall not introduce any degeneration of load supply reliability, respective measures must be implemented to compensate for such change characteristics. As operational experience, typically existing grid code Figure 5 Bagasse - Coal plant in Le Moule, Guadeloupe requirements and state of the art technologies in control and protection are not sufficiently synchronized with the fast development of renewable energies, there is substantial research and study work needed to avoid any degeneration of grid supply pattern. In the Guadeloupean archipelago the total installed wind power capacity reached almost 30 MW. Grid-connected PV contribution has increased dramatically during the last few months. It is an absolute evidence for the network operator that due to the security concerns of the electrical grid, the share of wind or PV generation should not increase further unless solutions are found to solve the prediction problem. The volatility of the wind power production makes it necessary to size adequately the primary reserve and to oversize the thermal units’ generation capacity increasing both the capital and operation costs. Therefore UAG research activity in that field focuses on the development of management tools of grid-connected wind electricity and scheduling algorithms for optimal energy storage scheme based on real time short term energy production forecast. Gaps The intermittency associated with photo-voltaic generation is lowering the adoption of utility-scale integration with the grid systems, a scalable answer to this obstacle should be found, including the collaboration with European countries. Benefit The problem is not specific to the Caribbean Area or Central American Area but is a global issue because overall in the world the tendency is now towards to the adoption of more renewable energies. Common research could focus on the improvement of the overall conversion efficiency, on the cost efficiency, as well as on the ways to significantly drive down the cost of electricity production from indigenous renewable energy resources. Research line proposed “The impact on the dynamic and stability pattern of interconnected transmission and distribution electrical systems at the replacement of conventional generation technology by renewable energies”. Development of efficient forecasting 12 | P a g e
scheme that includes some information on the likelihood of the forecast and based on a better knowledge of the wind variations characteristics along with their influence on power output variation since this is of key importance for the optimal integration of wind energy in power system since it is the uncertainty of the forecasts that causes balancing difficult at the utility network level. Development of large scale energy storage system that exploits the hybridation of the various renewable energy resources available in the Caribbean region.
BIOFUELS The Caribbean region as a whole is a net importer of oil. Petroleum producing countries in the region are Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Barbados. Nevertheless the region largely exploits energy coming from traditional sources, such as biomass fuels like fuel wood, charcoal and plant waste (cogeneration plant from sugar factories), but in an inefficient way. In several cases the development of required technological equipment is at commercial status or close to it. There are still large reserves to tap the potential of these developments to offer integrated technology solutions that meet needs of specific productive sectors under conditions that locally may be close to commercial. Nevertheless, studies of opportunity and technical and economic feasibility are still missing in the region. A 50 kW pilot plant on gasification of forest biomass is working in Cuba. Gaps Technological gaps mainly relate to Implementation of pilot plant projects, and demonstration plants through European technology in the conditions of the region, Joint research to enhance the transfer of developed technologies for the production and use of solid biofuels for the region, asses and eliminate the non-technological barriers to market penetration of these technologies
Figure 6 Bagasse -Coal plant in Le Moule, Guadeloupe.
Benefits Given the relevant presence of biomass on the territory, a cooperation with Europe, could lead to a refinement of current research focusing on “second generation of biofuels�, as well as on the sustainability of biomass production and on the allocation of resources between electricity, heat and transport fuel production. Others benefits can be: Self-supply of electricity and heat at industries associated with the production of biomass residues, with delivery of electricity surplus to the grid; Transition from
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conventional fuels to solids biofuels in industries that use kilns and boilers; Air conditioning and refrigeration based on the use of waste heat and gas produced from wood, particularly for food storage; Integrated supply of electricity, heat and cold in isolated communities; Power plants connected to the network that use biomass as fuel.
Proposed research lines “Solid biofuels and integrated systems for electricity, heat and cold”
CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER Even if not mentioned during the workshop, a technology which could lead to a potential benefit in the use of solar energy could be the one related to Concentrated Solar Power, currently being developed in Europe (ENEA, Italian National Agency for New technologies, Energy and Sustainable economic development). This technology, upgraded with molten salts passing in collectors’ tubes, may provide with an alternative and sustainable source of energy to a region presenting high levels of sun radiation throughout the whole year. The basis and the benefits for collaboration between the two regions surely exist, given the research activities, developed in similar and very close domains. The specificity of the Caribbean area has to be taken in Figure 7 Lycée Haute Qualité Environnementale de Port Louise, consideration, given the variegated typology of Guadeloupe. research, carried out in each of its countries, as well as the differences in terms of research development, technologies availability and regional/international exchanges.
KNOWLEDGE FOR ENERGY POLICY MAKING New and innovative approaches, aiming at developing a more sustainable use and provision of energy, like the EWPC-AF (Electricity Without Price Controls Architecture Framework)4 are emerging and might be a topic of discussion between the EU and the Caribbean, in the current strategies related to energy supply and CO2 emissions. The EWPC-AF topic of discussion is closely related to ongoing work on Smart Grids. Instead of adopting a heuristic methodology, whose higher 4
The EWPC-AF is a global scope, minimalist, emergent, holistic, and heuristic architecture framework that aims to replace the local (member state) scope, complicated, obsolete, fragmented, and. normative architecture framework. The EWPC-AF can be selected to fulfill the Commission’s communication Towards a Single Market Act - For a highly competitive social market economy to enable maximum social welfare through the alignment of research based SET-Plan technologies and innovation based Lead Markets initiatives (LMIs). The EWPC-AF first level architecture can be enacted to drive an energy policy (and the knowledge for energy policy making feedback) as part of a socio-technical industry ecosystem with an unprecedented system-of-systems structure that balances and mutually reinforces a regulated electricity market with an open business market. Successful LMIs innovations will emerge from a second level architecture business model competition, for example, for the Single Market.
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architecture levels are created by one person, or small team, the ongoing Smart Grid is using a participative methodology, by integrating the work of 200 experts. The resulting system-of-systems keeps negative side effects of institutional memory that leaves in place system barriers for LMIs and thus for the Single Market. The benefits of collaboration between the two regions could be twofold: on the one hand Caribbean countries could improve their research lines and agendas, by testing and adopting the European technologies. European research actors could, on the other hand, refine their ongoing research activities in extreme climate conditions (like the ones present in the Caribbean areas), the industry potentially being able to exploit a new market fragment.
Geothermal Energy
Caribbean Development of innovative methodologies for geothermal exploration in a volcanic island context Improvement of geothermal modeling (geological 3Dmodels, hydraulic-thermal-mechanical-geochemicalcoupled models) Studies of fluid reinjection and valorization Development of Enhanced Geothermal systems (EGS): physical, chemical and thermal stimulation for improving reservoir Permeability Development of the geothermal energy uses (binary cycles, cooling systems)
Photovoltaic
New methods for identification of hydrothermal resources. Optimising Photovoltaics for roofing materials in the Caribbean context. Developing new materials for photovoltaics for Caribbean weather conditions. Prediction of solar source and solar production for higher integration of photovoltaic supply in energy grid production Behaviour and adaptation of the equipments in insular tropical environment with hurricane and seismic hazards
Wind
Optimal hybridation design tools for standalone power supply system Development / modification of existing wind energy systems for the specific wind conditions of the Caribbean. Prediction of wind source and wind generator production for better integration in energy grid production Behavior and adaptation of the equipment’s in insular tropical
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Environment with hurricane and seismic hazards
Energy Efficiency
Optimal hybridation design tools for standalone power supply system Energy audit and energy efficiency model for the University of the West Indies – St. Augustine, Trinidad campus. Identification of and definition of efficient designs for the Caribbean Region for various categories of buildings, taking into consideration all factors deemed critical
Cooling
Grids/Networks
Regulation of intermittent energy by promoting adequacy between storage and predictability Solar cooling for buildings - optimal designs and most economic options for Caribbean region Testing of Solar Cooling systems under Caribbean conditions. Critical Fault Clearing Times (CFCT) are drastically reduced (due to 0-inertia units) introducing major upgrade needs in protection operation times and, having also effect on AVR/exciter characteristic needs Implemented spinning reserve and load-shedding strategies are not working any more as the overall grid inertia is tending towards zero Reduced short-circuit powers along with geographical adverse location of generation and load center are leading to reduced voltage stability margins as reactive power support in case of voltage sags is being reduced Major grid faults with subsequent area separations are difficult to handle by operation, potentially leading to a higher sequence of blackouts with limited flexibility for restoring full load supply
Biofuels
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Large scale cost effective energy storage system Integration of Renewable Energy systems into the existing grid networks. Algae as a biofuel source for the Caribbean.