DAFNI, a non-profit organization is a...DAFNI, a non-profit organization is a network of island local and regional authorities. It’s comprised of 43 Municipal and 4 Regional members.DAFNI

DAFNI, a non-profit organization is a network of island local and regional authorities. It’s comprised of 43 Municipal and 4 Regional members.

DAFNI promotes sustainable development in Greek islands through integrated actions in the fields of energy, environment and culture

It is a founding member of the Pact of Islandsinitiative promoting sustainability in European islands through local energy planning

DAFNI is member of ISLENET; CPMR’s informal network of island technical organisations

DAFNI is the coordinator of the Smart Islands Initiative promoting islands as ideas areas for innovative projects

Governing structure

• General Assembly

• Board of Administration

• Georgios Iliou – Deputy Mayor of Kythnos, President

• Andreas Babounis, Mayor of Sifnos, Vice President

• Fotios Maggos – Mayor of Leipsoi, Secretary

• Konstantinos Adamidis – Vice Governor of Region of North Aegean, Member

• Gerasimos Damoulaki – Mayor of Milos, Member

• Nikolaos Fostieris – Mayor of Amorgos, Member

• Michalis Chatzikalymnios – Deputy Mayor of Kos, Member

• President – Georgios Iliou

• General Director – Kostas Komninos

Benefits for DAFNI Members

Islands Policy – Networking

• Promoting issues that are relevant to islands at national and EU level. Collaboration with EU islands

• Participating in EU and global networks with similar goals (Pact of Islands, Covenant of Mayors, CIVITAS, Islenet, Smart Islands)

• Participating in EU consortia (Horizon 2020, Interreg Europe, MED, EL-CY, EL-IT, Balkan MED, Life+, Erasmus+, etc.)

• Exchanging knowledge and transferring experience among members

• Strengthening collaboration between island local and regional governance

• Disseminating member activities at EU level

Benefits for DAFNI Members

Technical support – Capacity building

• Supporting island authorities with strategic planning of infrastructure projects

• Supporting island authorities in positioning themselves towards environmental and/or energy projects

• Creating economies of scale for activities that concern more than one municipalities

• Deploying innovative technologies in pilot projects in collaboration with academic/research institutions

• Capacity-building for staff of island local and regional governments

• Providing access to e-libraries and databases with information on the environment and energy planning in islands

Benefits for DAFNI Members

Consulting – Publicity

• Promoting innovative financing instruments for the realization of infrastructure, natural resource management and local development projects with the active participation of local authorities

• Fostering participatory planning in policy- and decision-making

• Informing about the possibilities to access national/EU funds (calls, programmes etc.)

• Participation in events/conferences for keeping up-to-date with topics of interest to the Network

Examples of projects under development

• Energy retrofitting of public buildings: Audits, technical studies, financing.

• Energy efficiency in street lighting: LED lighting and smart control applications.

• EV infrastructure : Installation of EV charging stations and promotion of EV market

• Biogas plant, Naxos: Feasibility study for the exploitation of the local farming residuals.

• Desalination with RES: Promotion of systems combining desalination plants with installation of RES plants.

• Energy Communities: Technical assistance to local authorities.

• Municipal wind park, Lesvos: Repowering and extension of a licenced wind park with parallel operation of an environmental and RES park.

• Geothermal district heating, Lesvos: Reoperation and extension of a geothermal pilot district heating network to heat private houses, a poultry farm and several greenhouses.

• Sustainable tourism project in multiple islands: Hiking trails, Biking trails, Trails of cultural heritage, Digital applications

• UNESCO Geopark of Cyclades

EU projects in a nutshell

Past projects

• Establishment of “Ios-Aegean Energy Agency”, IEE (2008-2010)

• ISLEPACT, IEE (2009-2011)

• PROMISE, IEE (2012-2014)

• Smart Grids in 5 Greek Islands, ELENA Fund, EIB (2011-2014)

• SMILEGOV, IEE (2013-2015)

On-going projects

• WiseGRID, H2020 (2016-2019)

• SMILE, H2020 (2017-2020)

• HAPPEN, H2020 (2018-2020)

• IMPLEMENT, H2020 (2018-2020)

• STEPPING, Interreg-MED (2016-2019)

• MOTIVATE, Interreg-MED (2016-2019)

• YENESIS, EEA grants (2018-2022)

• ECOISM, EUKI fund (2018-2020)

Expected projects

• INSULAE, H2020 (2018-2022)

• Kythnos Smart Islands, (2018-2020)

What is special about Islands

Political dimension

• Recognition of insularity by European Treaties (Article 174 of the Lisbon Treaty) and in the European Directives

• Political support from the European Parliament

• Musotto Declaration (2007), Written Declaration 37 (2011)

• Call for tenders of the European Commission – Preparatory Action for Islands (2008)

• Political support and Declaration from major island authorities and regions (through the Islands Commission of the CPMR)

• “Smart Islands“ is the new strategy for the European Islands (September 2013) –drawing inspiration from Smart Cities and Communities

• “Smart Islands“ is an own-opinion by the European Economic and Social Committee (March 2015)

What is special about Islands

Structural handicaps related to energy

• Energy planning based on seasonality

• High reliance on hydrocarbons, high potential for emissions reduction

• Obstacles to reduce emissions for interconnected islands due to low capacity cables that do not allow high RES penetration

• Obstacles to reduce emissions for non-interconnected (NI) islands due to technical restrictions in the grid that does not allow high RES penetration

• First line of defence and most severe impact from climate change compared to continental regions

• Difficulty to introduce natural gas in the islands’ energy market

• Cost of energy is significantly higher due to transportation costs

• Often scarce water resources – Energy intensive desalination plants

2011

ISLEPACTPact of Islands

2013

SMILEGOVSmart Islands

Strategy

2016Smart Islands

Initiative

The Path towards the Smart Islands Initiative

Pact of Islands | How it all started

• ISLE-PACT project 2009 – 2012 funded by DG TREN to promote local sustainable energy planning in EU islands

• Initiative launched in 2011 under ISLEPACT project to promote local sustainable energy planning in islands

• An initiative in liaison to the Covenant of Mayors but focusing on the islands’ special characteristics

• Island Sustainable Energy Action Plans (iSEAPs) produced by the signatories

• iSEAPs conducted on island-scale (except of Cyprus and Malta)

• Methodologies and tools for planning and monitoring the iSEAPs provided to the signatories

• 117 signatories from all Member States with islands

• From 12/2016 Pact of Islands is fully compatible to Covenant of Mayors and iSEAPs are evaluated by JRC

Smart Islands Strategy | How it matured

• Key strategic deliverable of the SMILEGOV islands project

In the meantime…

…the opportunities for islands have been crystalized

Opportunities for Islands

• LOCAL CO2 EMMISSIONS PRODUCTION – Many island regions, unlike mainland regions, are producing locally CO2 emissions for energy production in their territories and can commit to reduce them.

• LOCAL UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURES – Islands host locally all the energy, water, waste and waste water management utilities. The integrated management of these infrastructures may create interesting paradigms and accumulated results.

• INNOVATION IN ISLANDS MATTERS – Innovative investments such as smart grids, energy storage, sustainable mobility, circular water and waste management have a much higher impact on islands.

• ISLANDS AS TEST-BEDS – Islands can function as test beds for different innovative technologies in the sustainability area which then can be scaled up to towns and cities of continental Europe

• REPLICABILITY POTENTIAL – Insularity issues faced by islands are in many cases similar with the insularity issues faced by mountainous and geographically isolated areas of continental Europe. The experiences of islands can be easily replicated and transferred to these areas too.

The Market sees the Opportunities

EURELECTRIC reports

1. June 2012 – “EU islands: Towards a sustainable energy future”

“Use islands as a priority test-bed for innovative technologies such as storage, smart grids and RES. Foster RD&D on islands”

2. February 2017 – “Towards the Energy Transition on Europe’s Islands”

“European energy and climate policy should cater for the specificities of islands. It should ensure that local energy communities are enabled to engage in the transition

process, thus promoting local participation and stakeholder engagement.”

“… improve the bankability and economic viability of islands’ energy projects through an appropriate legal framework to ensure legal and regulatory stability for financial

and technical cooperation.”

“While the CEF or the PCI address connectivity issues in Europe’s electricity network, similar funding facilities, potentially under the structure of the European Fund for Strategic Investments 2.0, would need to be designed for efficient isolated energy

systems, micro-grids and smart-grids on islands”

The Commission sees them too

Winter Package Communication from the Commission

“Clean Energy For All Europeans”ANNEX 2: Action to boost the clean energy transition

Chapter 8. Governance and partnerships for effective delivery

30 November 2016

“Islands and island regions provide platforms for pilot initiatives on clean energy transition and can serve as showcases at international level, as, for instance, in the EU's outermost regions with the case of El Hierro (Canary Islands), 100% renewable

energy island.”

“The Commission would like to help accelerate the development and adoption of best available technologies on islands and island regions, including exchange of best practice in financing and legal and regulatory regimes, and in energy for transport.”

“The first step is to bring the islands themselves together, regardless of their size, geography or their location.”

The EESC sees them too

TEN Section Report on the

“Smart Islands” Project

March 2017

“Despite their geographical diversity, EU islands face identical challenges such as territorial discontinuity, demographic desertification, strong seasonal fluctuation of tourists, energy dependency on fossil fuels (e.g. diesel), waste management, water

supply and funding scarcity.”

“Islands are answering these challenges by developing innovative projects which can be a model for other territories, particularly in the fields of ICT, the environment,

energy, transport, tourism and commerce.”

“Islands are living laboratories since they optimise the use and management of local resources and infrastructures.”

Clean Energy for EU Islands

Political Declaration on Clean Energy for EU Islands18 May 2017

The European Commission, together with 14 EU countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark,Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, andSweden) signed a political declaration to launch the new 'Clean Energy for EU Islands'initiative.

Aimed at accelerating the clean energy transition on Europe's more than 2700islands, this initiative will help islands reduce their dependency on energy imports bymaking better use of their own renewable energy sources and embracing moremodern and innovative energy systems.

The initiative will create a forum for all those with an interest in the clean energytransition on EU islands to share best practice and support the creation of a long-termframework to promote funding and technical assistance.

22 September 2017 – Inaugural Forum in Crete

Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat

Established May 2018 by the European Commission to supportthe clean energy transition of islands.

The Clean Energy for EU Island Secretariat provides...• support on the co-development of island-wide Clean Energy Transition

Agendas

• guidance on the development of Clean Energy Transition Agendas

• pre-feasibility studies for individual clean energy projects

• assistance for the preparation of individual clean energy projects

• helpdesk support

Workshop in Athens in April 5th

Visit the Secretariat Website https://euislands.eu/

The timing is perfect…

…for island local and regional authorities to play a key role in the transition to the smart era

The Smart Islands Initiative is a bottom-up

effort of European island authorities and

communities which seeks to communicate

the significant potential of islands to

function as laboratories for technological,

social, environmental, economic and

political innovation.

Island Quadruple Helix Ecosystems

A collaborative process of setting the

Smart Islands Initiative into motion

The Smart Islands Initiative

The Smart Islands Initiative | Key areas of intervention

Smart Islands Initiative | Declaration signing ceremony

In 28 March 2017 12 MEPs hosted in the European Parliament

33 Local and Regional island authorities from 15 Member States signing

on behalf of more than 200 EU islands

Smart Islands Initiative | The way forward

The Smart Islands Initiative Pillars

1. The Smart Islands Forum – An annual collaborative, networking and knowledge-sharing space for island public administration and community representatives

2. The Smart Islands Conference – An annual gathering of stakeholders to exchange views and propose measures for putting the Smart Islands Declaration into effect, organized back-to-back with the Forum

3. The Smart Islands Platform – A body catalysing collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors for the deployment of pilot innovative projects on islands

The Smart Islands Declaration

A Motion for Resolution will follow the signing of the Declaration to be adopted by the European Parliament

Thank you for your attention