The European Defence Agency (EDA) last week successfully installed energy management equipment at camp Koulikoro, the location for the European Union’s Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali. The equipment is part of EDA’s Smart Camp Technical Demonstrator project which analyses the benefits of integrating new technologies into traditional power grids for deployed camps.
The elements installed include fixed solar photovoltaic panels on a test building (16KWp), flexible soldier portable solar photovoltaic panels as well as monitoring and metering equipment for water and electricity. The test building is occupied by the Belgium contingent who will provide valuable feedback regarding end-user experience with energy demand management.
Objective of Demonstrator
The demonstrator will be installed initially for a test phase of twelve weeks. The objectives are to:
- Test efficiency of various types of photovoltaic panels in specific climatic conditions;
- Test the integration of renewables with battery storage in a deployment scenario;
- Test demand management technology and its impact, if any, on inhabitants;
- Raise awareness of energy efficiency and renewable energy as a military capability;
- Encourage energy efficient behaviour among troops;
- Collect reliable data for analysis and sharing with other Member States and further work;
- Collect data to develop benchmarks for planning support tools for CSDP operations.
Further Opportunities for Energy & Environment Management
Following the test phase, further work can be envisaged including an upscaling of the equipment installed to provide more renewable power to the camp, water management technologies, waste management technologies including waste to energy conversion and further efficiency measures. A full report will be presented at the next Energy & Environment working group meeting on 12 and 13 November in Brussels.
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