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Europe / Commercial & demonstration

Graciosa, Azores Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations9
System facts25
Sources reviewed8
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Graciólica is the operating island power system on Graciosa in Portugal's Azores, integrating a 4.5 MW wind plant, 1 MWp solar plant, Leclanché lithium-titanate storage, and the island's diesel station under Wärtsilä GEMS controls. It began supplying the island on August 21, 2019. Public sources disagree on the storage power/usable-energy label—7.425 MW/3.2 MWh from Leclanché, 7.5 MVA/2.6 MWh from the Azores project page, and 6 MW/3.2 MWh from Wärtsilä—so those figures are preserved by source rather than silently merged.

Research status
Operating. Wärtsilä reports 61% renewable penetration and 139 days of 100% renewable operation during 2024. A regional-government page reported that 8.9 million liters of diesel and €8.2 million had been saved through August 31, 2023. A July 2026 Azores government update shows that the island is now studying flexible water-heater and other loads to reduce remaining renewable curtailment and thermal generation, evidence of continued operation and optimization rather than project abandonment.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
39.05248, -28.00690
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Graciosa, Azores Microgrid?

9 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Eletricidade dos Açores (EDA)

Island utility and electricity customer; its thermal plant remains coordinated by the hybrid controller as renewable shortfall/redundancy generation. [7][5][6]

Organization

Government of the Azores

Regional-government supporter and publisher of operating milestones, savings, and current flexibility work. [5][6][8]

Organization

Graciólica Lda.

Hybrid-plant developer/operator and power producer; customer named on Wärtsilä's operating case study. [4][7][5]

Organization

Leclanche

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Leclanché

Turnkey supplier of the LTO battery energy-storage system and provider of a 20-year lifetime performance warranty. [3][7]

Organization

Tecnalia

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Tractebel

Coordinated the project during the 2018 completion phase. [7]

Organization

Wärtsilä Energy / Greensmith Energy

Supplier of the GEMS Digital Energy Platform and hybrid microgrid controls; Greensmith was acquired by Wärtsilä and is named in the 2018 completion account. [4][7]

Organization

Younicos

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
1000 [1]
KW Wind
4500 [1]
Storage
2800 kW NMC Battery [1]
Wind power
4.5 MW total from five 900 kW turbines; turbine manufacturer/model is not identified in the reviewed sources [3][4][5]
Solar PV
1 MWp [3][4][5]
Battery rating reported by Leclanché
7.425 MW/3.2 MWh, lithium-titanate-oxide chemistry [3]
Battery rating reported by Azores project page
7.5 MVA/2.6 MWh; this may use a different AC/apparent-power and usable-energy convention, but the reviewed source does not reconcile it with Leclanché's rating [5]
Battery rating reported by Wärtsilä
6 MW/3.2 MWh; retained as vendor-published rather than treated as a separate battery [4]
Diesel power plant
4.6 MW in Leclanché's equipment list: three 600 kW, one 810 kW, and two 1,000 kW units [3]
Pre-project annual electricity and fuel
13.6 GWh annual island load, formerly supplied entirely by diesel using more than 3.3 million liters per year, according to Leclanché [3]
2024 operating performance
61% renewable penetration and 139 days operating on 100% renewables during 2024 [4]
Cumulative savings through August 31, 2023
8.9 million liters of diesel and €8.2 million, as reported by an Azores regional-government sustainability page [6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Battery energy storage system

Leclanché

LTO battery system with grid-forming capability, rapid charge/discharge, voltage and frequency control, turnkey delivery, and a 20-year performance warranty. The public rating varies by reporting convention/source. [3][5][4]

02

Energy-management system

Wärtsilä — GEMS Digital Energy Platform

Coordinates wind, solar, battery, and thermal generation using load patterns, weather forecasts, and asset data to increase renewable dispatch while maintaining reliability. [4][7]

03

Wind turbines and PV modules

Model not publicly disclosed

Aggregate ratings and wind-turbine count are public, but the wind turbine, PV module, and PV inverter manufacturers/models were not identified in the reviewed authoritative sources. [3][5]

04

Thermal backup

Model not publicly disclosed

Six existing diesel units remain under the intelligent controller and are dispatched when renewables and stored energy are insufficient or redundancy is required. [3][5]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    The world’s first megawatt-scale renewable energy plus storage system, currently being built on the island of Graciosa in the Azores (Portugal), will set new standards for islands worldwide. [1]

  • General

    The centerpiece of the system is a fully automated, intelligently managed 2.8 megawatt battery park integrated into the intelligent energy management system developed by Younicos. [1]

  • General

    In addition, the system will incorporate wind (4.5 MW) and solar (1 MW) power resources, and intelligent inverters. [1]

  • Island-grid operation

    The battery forms and stabilizes the isolated island grid, compensates for fast renewable variability, and regulates voltage and frequency; GEMS schedules the full hybrid portfolio from forecasts of generation and demand. [3][4][5]

  • Renewable penetration

    The strongest dated current evidence is Wärtsilä's 61% and 139 fully renewable days in 2024. The Azores project page separately reports a cumulative 62% and 273 fully renewable days without giving its measurement cutoff, so it is not substituted for the dated 2024 figure. [4][5]

  • Diesel reduction claims

    Leclanché says diesel consumption fell by more than 65% and estimates €1.9 million in annual fuel savings. The regional government later reported cumulative physical and financial savings through August 2023. These are publisher-reported results; no independent audited dispatch dataset was located. [3][6]

  • Commissioning chronology

    Leclanché announced installation completion in December 2018 and Wärtsilä lists delivery in 2018, while the Azores government identifies August 21, 2019 as the start of electricity production and island supply. These dates describe installation/delivery versus commercial supply rather than a contradiction. [7][4][5]

  • Current optimization work

    In April 2026, the LIFE IP CLIMAZ program convened Graciosa stakeholders to characterize daily demand flexibility, including controllable water heaters, so additional renewable energy can be absorbed instead of curtailed and thermal generation can be reduced. [8]

  • Evidence boundary

    The public sources do not reconcile the three storage power/energy labels, publish unit-level wind/PV output, or provide battery state-of-health and availability. A proposed future hydrogen system in later studies is not part of the as-built plant and is excluded from installed capacity. [3][4][5]

Provenance

8 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    Source

    younicos.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  3. [3]
    Graciosa case study

    Leclanché · Primary source

  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Projeto Graciólica

    SIARAM / Government of the Azores · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Graciosa: Leading the Way in Renewable Energy Usage

    Government of the Azores · Primary source

  7. [7]
  8. [8]

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