Technical Webinar Series-Transforming SIDs Power System through VRE

Small island developing states (SIDS) are focusing on transforming their power systems with the integration of variable renewable energy (VRE). But there are numerous technical barriers that arise in the implementation of VRE’s which include, among others, the lack of local capacity to plan, operate and maintain the systems.

This webinar was an initiative by IRENA to support Small island developing states in their transition to a sustainable energy future. It aims to outreach our publication “Transforming small island states” and share results and recommendations of some of the grid assessment studies conducted in the recent past for Islands.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has established various initiatives in support of SIDS to accelerate their energy transformation. These include technical studies, technical advisory, and capacity building programs, in engagement with local and regional organizations, in the broad spectrum of integration of renewable energy technologies.

The specific areas include, but are not limited to, technical grid assessment studies, grid operation and management of power systems with high shares of VRE. The studies reveal the technical constraints in the system to integrating VRE and hence recommend solutions to mitigate these challenges considering system specificities, available resources and ensure a secure and reliable power system operation.

Work done in the past include grid assessment studies for the power systems of islands in Antigua and Barbuda, Palau, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and Dominican Republic. In 2019 IRENA brought out the publication “Transforming Small-island Power systems- Technical planning studies for the integration of variable renewables”, to support SIDS in the process of planning for the integration of high shares of VRE. It discusses the VRE integration planning and the technical studies required to analyze and quantify such challenges, including how to carry out these studies and the methodologies to be applied to resolve the identified issues.