Press releases
Empower Project
NICOSIA, 19 JUNE 2019 - Deloitte's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre participates in the project EMPOWER which brings together all the key stakeholders of the electric energy sector in Cyprus with an ambitious goal to develop sustainable and intelligent technologies and tools for the electric power system of Cyprus.
EMPOWER aims at improving the effectiveness of the Cypriot Research, Technological Development, and Innovation (RTDI) through research activities, technological development, and innovation, focusing on the priority area of energy. One of the major goals of EMPOWER is the smart and green evolution of the Cyprus power system infrastructure, which will result to a great socio-economic impact for the entire country.
This project builds on a high quality, complementary and multidisciplinary consortium that will create essential synergies between members of the quadruple helix of the Cyprus economy, build a critical mass of researchers, and develop young scientists for performing high-level research.
The consortium is led by the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence (University of Cyprus), which is the largest research center in Cyprus. Τhe consortium comprises the Transmission System Operator – Cyprus, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (owner of the transmission and distribution system and distribution system operator), the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Energy (the Regulator and the Ministry are the policy makers in Cyprus), TPAD (wind farm operator), Phoebe Innovations (big data R&D SME), Deloitte with expertise in impact analysis for energy projects, the federation of employers and industry companies with special interest in energy, and the non-profit Cyprus Energy Agency with special interest in analysis and dissemination of energy projects to the general public.
Deloitte's role
Deloitte participates in EMPOWER project as a leading provider of professional services to electric power companies and electric and gas utilities worldwide. More specifically, Deloitte is involved in EU-funded and national research projects through its Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre (IEC) aiming to stimulate the Cypriot economy by supporting Innovation and entrepreneurship. Under the Innovation pillar, Deloitte's IEC team engages in projects which focus on and promote innovative practices in various sectors of the economy, such as research projects in cooperation with leading universities and research institutions throughout Europe.
Deloitte participates in various projects funded by EU Programmes including LIFE Programme, Interreg MED Programme, ENI, ERASMUS+ and HORIZON. Deloitte collaborates closely with the UCY on other RES-related projects with the financial support of the EU (www.smartpvproject.eu, www.dem4bipv.eu, www.pvnetmetering.eu, https://stores.interreg-med.eu, https://smartgridsmaster.eu, ENI BERLIN newly approved project). Deloitte was appointed by the European Commission to support and assist about 100 public sector bodies to implement the PSI-Directive and promote PSI reuse to the public and the private sector through the national government portal.
The involvement of Deloitte in the project, as a large enterprise, will add value to the existing consortium and the project activities directly, since it develops the breadth and scope of the project and encourages the principles of ideas’ cross-fertilisation, integrated collaboration, and co-created shared value. Deloitte constantly works on policy issues that matter to society and support open innovation approaches. Deloitte's IEC role in the project will be catalytic. It will strengthen networking, by taking advantage of its global brand and presence (an important aspect of an exploitation strategy); will foster collaboration by involving all key actors and stakeholders using all the necessary resources and strong organizational and operational capacity at a local and European level; will promote corporate entrepreneurship (by developing an effective business proposition for the sustainability of the storage solution & software tool); and finally engage in proactive IPR.
General objectives of EMPOWER
A. Evolve the Cyprus power system: This project proposes the development of cutting-edge solutions based on ICT (e.g., innovative real-time monitoring and control tools, storage solutions) for evolving the Cyprus power system.
B. Increase the share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the energy mix of Cyprus: The improved monitoring and control capabilities that will be provided through this project in combination with the flexibilities obtained by the integration of different storage solutions will extend the maximum allowable installed capacity of RES in the islanded power system of Cyprus without risking the system integrity.
C. Overcome the economic crisis and improve the quality of life in Cyprus: It is envisioned that there will be great socio-economic benefits by modernizing the Cyprus power system through this project.
D. Develop important ties and synergies between members of the quadruple helix: This project builds on a high quality, complementary and multidisciplinary consortium that will create essential synergies between members of the quadruple helix as required by the call, build a critical mass of researchers, and develop young scientists for performing high-level research.
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