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Tilos Microgrid

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations25
System facts31
Sources reviewed9
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

TILOS ('Technology Innovation for the Local Scale, Optimum Integration of Battery Energy Storage') is an operating hybrid power station and research program on Tilos, Greece. The island remains connected by submarine cable to the Kos-Kalymnos oil-fired system; it is not normally an electrically isolated 100%-renewable island. Its dedicated plant combines one 800 kW wind turbine, 160 kWp PV and an 800 kW/2.88 MWh sodium-nickel-chloride battery, with demand-side management and thermal-load flexibility.

Research status
The EU Horizon 2020 project ran from February 2015 through January 2020 and the hybrid station entered operation during that program. CORDIS reported it operating and winning an EU Sustainable Energy Award in 2021; 2024 Greek reporting still describes the station as covering the island and supporting emergencies. No 2025–2026 owner report discloses battery state of health, replacement or annual production, so operational is supported but detailed current performance is not.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
36.41450, 27.38694
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 Tilos Microgrid?

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

Organization

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)

Research consortium participant [4]

Organization

EUNICE Energy Group / Eunice Energy Community

Greek project developer/operator and community-energy commercialization participant. [6][8]

Organization

Eunice Ferousa S.A.

Greek energy-company consortium participant [4]

Organization

Eurosol Projekt und Management GmbH

Project-development consortium participant [4]

Organization

FZSoNick / SONICK S.p.A.

Sodium-nickel-chloride battery manufacturer and consortium member. [5][6]

Organization

Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO / DEDDIE)

Distribution-system operator and consortium participant [4]

Organization

Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO/DEDDIE)

Distribution operator, interconnection party and consortium member. [6][9]

Organization

Indrivetec AG

Bidirectional battery inverter supplier. [5]

Organization

Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias

Island-energy research consortium participant [4]

Organization

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Academic consortium participant [4]

Organization

Municipality/residents of Tilos

Host community and demand-side/energy-community participants. [7][8]

Organization

Open Energi Limited

Demand-side-management consortium participant; participation ended [4]

Organization

RWTH Aachen University

Academic consortium participant [4]

Organization

Schleswig-Holstein Netz AG

Distribution-network consortium participant; participation ended [4]

Organization

SMA Solar Technology AG

Consortium participant; participation ended before project close [4]

Organization

SONICK S.p.A. / FZSoNick

NaNiCl2 battery manufacturer and consortium participant [4][5]

Organization

Uniper Technologies GmbH

Third-party technical participant; participation ended [4]

Organization

Université de Corse Pascal Paoli

Academic and island-platform consortium participant [4]

Organization

University of East Anglia

Academic consortium participant [4]

Organization

University of West Attica

Horizon 2020 project coordinator [4]

Organization

University of West Attica (formerly Piraeus University of Applied Sciences)

Horizon 2020 coordinator and technical/research lead. [6][5]

Organization

WWF Greece

Environmental and public-engagement consortium participant [4]

Organization

Younicos

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

Organization

Younicos GmbH

Energy-storage and control-technology consortium participant [4]

Organization

Younicos GmbH and research consortium partners

Storage/control research and replication partners; consortium participation does not imply ownership of the operating station. [6]

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.

Storage
NA [1]
Wind generation
800 kW [5]
Solar PV
160 kW [5]
Battery energy storage
800 kW / 2.88 MWh NaNiCl2 [5][4]
Battery containers
Two 20-foot containers, each with 64 parallel FZSoNick ST523 modules [5]
Battery inverters
Two 500 kVA units [5]
Battery transformers
Two 630 kVA, 20/0.3 kV transformers [5]
Horizon 2020 project cost
€13.75 million total; €11.01 million EU contribution [4]
Wind and solar
One 800 kW wind turbine plus 160 kWp PV. Public technical papers reviewed do not identify the wind-turbine or PV module manufacturer/model. [5][7]
Battery
800 kW/2.88 MWh sodium-nickel-chloride (NaNiCl2/ZEBRA), about 3.6 hours at rated power. [5][6]
Battery construction
128 FZSoNick ST523 modules in two 20-foot containers, 64 parallel modules per container; two 500 kVA inverters and two 630 kVA, 20/0.3 kV transformers. [5]
Reported energy performance
Mayor/project reporting cites 80–85% autonomy for two months, 100% in some winter periods and 70–75% during July–August, with about 1,200 MWh/year exported to Kos, 220 tonnes/year fuel oil and 750 tonnes/year CO2 avoided. These are project-level claims, not a current audited annual series. [7]
Project budget
EUR 13.75 million total Horizon 2020 project cost and EUR 11.01 million EU contribution; this covers research/replication activities beyond the hardware alone. [6]
Energy mix
Local wind, PV and stored renewable energy, balanced by the Kos-Kalymnos interconnection and emergency diesel. Annual renewable share varies seasonally and is not continuously 100%. [5][9]

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 modules

FZSoNick / SONICK S.p.A. — ST523

128 sodium-nickel-chloride modules arranged as 64 parallel modules in each of two 20-foot battery containers. [5]

02

Battery inverters

Indrivetec — SOLO S 500

Two 500 kVA bidirectional inverter systems couple the battery containers to the plant. [5]

03

Battery transformers

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 630 kVA, 20/0.3 kV units; the academic paper does not identify their manufacturer or model. [5]

04

Smart-grid control system

Model not publicly disclosed

Optimizes storage for renewable penetration, stability, guaranteed exports, and ancillary services; the reviewed sources do not provide a commercial controller model. [4][5]

05

Battery modules

FZSoNick / SONICK — ST523

128 high-temperature NaNiCl2 modules in two containers. [5]

06

Battery inverters

Indrivetec — SOLO S 500

Two 500 kVA bidirectional inverter systems. [5]

07

Transformers

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 630 kVA, 20/0.3 kV battery transformers; maker/model not disclosed. [5]

08

Smart-grid control

Model not publicly disclosed

Forecast-based energy management schedules wind/PV/storage, guaranteed exports, ancillary services and demand flexibility; no definitive current commercial controller version is public. [6][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

    Planned Assets: Diesel, Solar, Storage [1]

  • Operating modes

    The hybrid station supports both grid-connected operation with the Kos-Kalymnos system and autonomous island operation. [4][5]

  • Demand flexibility

    The research program integrated demand-side management and distributed domestic-hot-water thermal storage with the electrical microgrid. [4]

  • Storage services

    The battery was designed for energy management, renewable maximization, grid stability, guaranteed export, and ancillary services. [4]

  • Consortium record

    CORDIS lists the coordinator, 16 participating organizations, ended participations, and a third-party entity; the page preserves those distinctions. [4]

  • Operating modes

    Designed for grid-connected exchange with Kos-Kalymnos and autonomous Tilos operation during interconnection outages, with storage providing power balance and stability. [5][6]

  • Demand flexibility

    The research program integrated smart meters, demand-side management and distributed domestic-hot-water thermal storage, later extending into EV charging, public lighting and water management. [6][8]

  • Storage services

    Battery functions include energy shifting, renewable maximization, smoothing/stability, guaranteed export and ancillary services rather than merely emergency backup. [5]

  • Current-data gap

    Recent secondary confirmation supports continued operation, but no current HEDNO/EUNICE dataset gives annual MWh, availability, battery capacity retention or replacement planning. [9]

Provenance

9 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 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    From Yaunicos

    younicos.com · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    www.tilos.gr

    tilos.gr · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  4. [4]
  5. [5]
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
    Greek island Tilos picks up award for clean energy transition

    European Commission CORDIS · Primary source

  8. [8]
  9. [9]

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