The area under consideration for the implementation of the replication study in Crete is depicted in Figure 1. It is found in the western part of the island, at the Prefecture of Chania, and it is focused on the production of biogas from the exploitation of the agricultural residues coming mainly from the greenhouse tomatoes crops located at the western coastline of the island, as shown in this figure. In total 800,000 m2 of tomatoes crops are found in the specific location. In the most favourable case regarding the agricultural production, 1 tn of tomatoes residues are produced for every 1,000 m2 of crops, while during years with extensive crops’ diseases, the tomatoes residues can reach 4-5 tn for every 1,000 m2 of cultivated land. An average biogas specific production from tomatoes residues is given at the range of 150 – 240 L/kg of volatile solids in the relevant literature, revealing the huge potential for biogas production in the area.

Figure 1 Possible area of installation on Crete

Due to the low interconnection of the Crete’s Island to the mainland Greece, further increase of the percentage of the overall green energy that will be produced in the Region of Crete using RES may cause significant instabilities in the network. As already mentioned, more than 21% of the overall energy production comes from RES, but according to the European rules, by 2030 the rate must be increased to at least 57%. By replicating the developed EMS, smart control systems and the other proposed incentives such as storage and waste valorization, Crete expects that ROBINSON will contribute to addressing this challenge. The initial brainstorming on how the ROBINSON system can be replicated in Crete is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Components of the Robinson replication scheme on Crete

Technological components for evaluation in the Cretan industry are the combined heat and power unit, the steam boiler, the wind turbine, the electrolyser, the AD-BES system, the gasifier, the gas fuel mixer, the PV systems, and the energy storage systems.