Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery
Polish Academy of Sciences

After three and a half years of research, innovation and international cooperation, the SUSTENANCE project officially ended. It was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme and partly by the Department of Science and Technology of the Indian Government (DST). SUSTENANCE was coordinated by the University of Aalborg, Denmark in cooperation with the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. 21 partners from 3 EU countries and India participated in this international project.

The SUSTENANCE project has developed solutions to decarbonise local energy systems through the optimal, intelligent integration of renewable energy technologies, including photovoltaics, heat pumps, electric vehicles, energy storage, and solar pumping of water and wind turbines in India. The solutions were verified at 6 demonstration locations – 3 in the European Union and 3 in different locations in India. The so-called "demonstrators" in Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland and India have shown how communities with diverse economic, social and political conditions can effectively implement these solutions.

Key Achievements

The project proposed solutions for the integration of energy systems, contributed to capacity building and skills building as a result of global knowledge exchange. The main achievements are:

• Integration of Technology: Effective implementation and cooperation of electric vehicles (EV), heat pumps and photovoltaic systems (PV) at various demonstration locations that have shown that autonomous energy solutions are feasible despite numerous challenges.
• Global Cooperation: Meetings in Europe and India have fostered knowledge exchange and strengthened global partnership.
• Strengthening Local Communities: The recognition of differences in starting points for individual communities and their different objectives is crucial to understanding the different paths leading to more self-sufficient energy systems. An example is the clear contrast between some Indian demonstrators who faced a lack of reliable access to electricity before the SUSTENANCE project and European demonstrators. In India, demonstrators focused on reducing energy poverty and improving the socio-economic status of rural communities. Women and children have a special opportunity to benefit from microgrid solutions supporting water pumping, cooking and school transport.
• Policy guidelines: The project identified key gaps in regulation and market structures, providing practical recommendations to accelerate the energy transition.

Six Lessons

SUSTENANCE partners have identified 6 key proposals that will influence future energy transformation activities:

• Lesson 1: Integration of electric vehicles, heat pumps and photovoltaic systems is difficult but effective in the context of network load reduction.
• Lesson 2: The road to more autonomous energy systems for communities can start at different points and take different paths.
• Lesson 3: Heating is more dependent on local conditions and its electrification poses specific challenges to the energy network.
• Lesson 4: Regulations lag behind technological and scientific progress, making progress difficult.
• Lesson 5: The transfer of business ideas (between countries) is difficult by differences in local circumstances.
• Lesson 6: Although citizens generally support energy transformation, they lack awareness of their role in this process.
  
  
  • More about lessons from the project (in Polish):
    https://h2020sustenance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SUSTENANCE_NEWSLETTER_07_EN_web.pdf

Recommendations

The SUSTENANCE project, in cooperation with other Horizon 2020 projects, SERENE and LocalRES, has developed guidelines for policy development in support of increasing the use of energy-efficient solutions at local level, containing eight practical recommendations:

1. Capacity building through training tools and workshops for local communities.
2. Better alignment of EU rules with national/local ones.
3. Development of scalable plug-and-play solutions (requires minimum configuration from citizens).
4. National and EU funds supporting enterprises and start-ups.
5. Simplification of administrative procedures for energy projects.
6. Support for interoperability and standardisation.
7. Facilitating energy sharing and regulatory flexibility.
8. Combating misinformation and raising awareness.
   
   
   • More about this here (in Polish):
     https://h2020sustenance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SERENE_PolyBrief_Oct24_POLISH.pdf

Sustainable impact

Professor Birgitte Bak-Jensen, coordinator of the SUSTENANCE project, emphasises the holistic approach of the project: "By integrating technological solutions with regard to social, regulatory and environmental aspects, we have created a framework for the implementation of sustainable energy systems that can have a real impact on improving the quality of life of local communities around the world."

Although the SUSTENANCE project has come to an end, we hope that its impact will be long-term and that it will continue precisely thanks to the lessons identified and the recommendations to support the further development of the energy transition.

For more information, visit the SUSTENANCE project website:
https://h2020sustenance.eu

LinkedIn: @SUSTENANCE H2020 project
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustenance-h2020-project

Contact:
Prof. Birgitte Bak-Jensen
University of Aalborg
SUSTENANCE Project Coordinator
bbj@energy.au.dk
+4599409274

Sebastian Bull
Institute of Flow Machines of Polish Academy of Sciences | KEZO Research Center
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
+48(58)5225144