The EU energy system strongly relies on centralised electricity generation and on fuel imports, with 95% of its oil and 84% of its gas consumption sourced from outside the EU. The REPowerEU Plan proposes a set of actions to reduce the EU’s dependence on fossil fuels and diversify its energy supply ‘well before 2030’. The three pillars of the plan are to ramp up the production of green energy, diversify our energy supplies, and reduce our demand for fossil gas, coal and oil. Renewable energy valleys are understood as decentralised renewable energy systems that offer a viable and efficient solution to these challenges mentioned above. By implementing a high degree of renewable energy sources as well as storage technologies and intelligent management algorithms for synergetic use of a wide variety of technologies, they can be 100% self-sufficient on a yearly basis. For the next 5 years, the REFORMERS project aims to develop, implement an exploit such an energy valley in the Boekelermeer next to the city of Alkmaar in the Netherlands, that serves as a living lab for testing and validating technologies, business models, stakeholder ecosystems, including industrial partners, DSO, the municipality, and residents, and user acceptance in real-life circumstances, in a peri-urban and industrial environment. Furthermore, the project aims to support the deployment of multiple self-sufficient energy valleys throughout Europe beyond the flagship in the Netherlands. Therefore, it will deliver a roll-out blue print and replication toolbox that encompass: (i) Energy System Design, (ii) Environmental Impact Assessment, (iii), Stakeholder Engagement and Social impact assessment, (iv) Governance and policy assessment, and (v) Business modelling, and allow other sites and regions to develop a pathway towards a carbon neutral and self-sufficient energy valley, that can be fed into e.g., a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan.

IANOS brings together two Lighthouse (LH) islands (Terceira-PT, Ameland-NL), and three Fellow islands (FI) (Lambedusa-IT, Bora-Bora-FR, Nisyros-GR), all sharing a common vision of decarbonizing their energy systems and be energy independent until 2050. Thirty-four (34) strongly experienced partners from nine (9) European countries, join forces to deliver smart technological, economic and social innovations, providing systemic optimization starting from an Energy Community-centric approach. IANOS adopts an Island Energy Transition Strategy built around three (3) Island Energy Transition Tracks that focus on: a) Energy efficiency and grid support for extremely high RES penetration, b) Decarbonization through electrification and support from non-emitting fuels, c) Empowering Local Energy Communities (LEC). Through IANOS an impressive repository of elements (technologies, tools, methods) will be demonstrated in the two LH islands and within nine (9) carefully defined Use-Cases (UCs) that will lead to: a reduction of fossil fuel consumption by 379.7 GWh/y, an increase in RES utilization by 83.6 GWh/y, increase accuracy of vRES forecasts by >10% and reduce energy bills of end-users by >15%. In total, 900 participants (prosumers/consumers) will be involved in LECs by the end of IANOS. Elements to be demonstrated include: an iVPP operative orchestration toolkit, smart energy routers, hybrid transformers, flywheel storage, biobased batteries, heat batteries, tidal kite, an auto-generative digester and the IANOS Energy Planning and Transition Suite (IEPT). The replication potential of IANOS UCs will be evaluated in the three FIs. Due to their current local energy mix, Terceira and Ameland can particularly act as LHs for geothermal and hydrogen-centered island economies, respectively. To reach all these goals, a total of 121.6M€ will be invested by the 2 LH ecosystems, while another 60.4M€ will be fuelled by the 6 FI ecosystems during IANOS (until 2025).