Hyress – Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Supplying of Services in Rural Settlements of Mediterranean Partner Countries

The Hyress project was launched with a strategic objective to broaden access to knowledge regarding the installation of hybrid systems based on renewables. The project was demonstrated using renewables-based “mini-grids” in remote areas of the Mediterranean partner countries (MPC).

Three hybrid renewable energy systems were installed in remote rural areas of Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The hybrid systems consist of photovoltaic and small wind generators. Furthermore, some systems have integrated hydrogen subsystems, biodiesel engines and desalination units. All three hybrid systems are designed and sized after carefully taking into account the local framework conditions. They fulfil criteria such as modularity, robustness, simplicity in use, very low maintenance requirements.

Once installed and running, they were monitored with the aim of assessing their technical performance, as well as the social range of the facilities.

In accordance with the structure of the teams involved, the project entailed transferring knowledge from European countries to the Mediterranean partner countries, while establishing good-practice for similar activities to be replicated in other locations.

ITER in collaboration with ANME, designed and installed a pilot plant in Ksar Ghilène, in the province of Kebili, southeastern Tunisia, a village of around 50 houses and a number of public buildings, such as a mosque, a school, a health centre and public toilets.

The project, which ran from October 2006 to September 2010, was funded through the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme, International Scientific Cooperation (INCO), in the area of specific measures to support the Mediterranean partner countries (MPC).

The project was coordinated by the Greece’s Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). ITER participated as a partner, together with Egypt’s University of Alexandria (AU), Morocco’s University Cadi Ayyad of Marrakech (FSSM), Germany’s Institut für Solare Energieversorgungstechnik (ISET), Tunis’s national energy conservation agency (ANME), and the firms WIP of Germany, and the Clean Power Ltd Partnership (CP) of Greece.