Projects
RESTOR
Island territories face major challenges in their energy transition, particularly due to their dependence on imported fossil fuels, geographical isolation, and the specific constraints of their electricity grids. The increasing integration of renewable energy sources requires the development of suitable energy storage solutions to ensure the stability, flexibility, and resilience of island energy systems.
The European project RESTOR – Renewable Energy STORage planning model for islandic energy systems aims to develop a decision-support model based on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to identify, evaluate, and rank renewable energy storage solutions best suited to island territories.
The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining engineering, climate sciences, and social sciences and humanities. It brings together electricity grid modelling, energy and economic optimisation, environmental assessment, and stakeholder engagement to support sustainable energy planning.
Coordinated by Uppsala University (Sweden), RESTOR brings together an international consortium of eight partners. The project includes five pilot case studies: the Aran Islands (Ireland), Gotland (Sweden), Reunion Island (France), and island territories in Australia and Brazil. The methodologies developed will also be evaluated in three additional follower territories: Lesvos (Greece), Fiji, and Fernando de Noronha (Brazil).
On Reunion Island, the project is carried out by ENERGY-Lab, University of Reunion Island, under the scientific responsibility of Dr Dominique Grondin, with the support of local stakeholders including SPL Horizon Réunion and SIDELEC Réunion. The case study aims to identify the most suitable energy storage strategies to increase renewable energy integration while maintaining electricity grid stability, in line with the territory’s objective of achieving energy autonomy by 2030.
RESTOR is implemented within the framework of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership) – Joint Call 2023, co-funded by Horizon Europe and participating national funding agencies. The project runs for 36 months, from December 2024 to December 2027, with a total estimated consortium budget of €1,637,431.
