The tiny islands are working on a “Smart Energy Islands” project.

The Isles of Scilly are home to a mere two thousand people. Part of Cornwall, it nonetheless has its own local authority.

The Isles of Scilly recently embarked on a Smart Energy Islands project, a collaboration between Japanese conglomerate Hitachi and the European Union to test out Hitachi’s smart grid technology.

A total of £10m has been earmarked for the project, with £8.6m coming from the European Union’s Regional Development Fund and £1.4m from the Japanese giant.

The Isles of Scilly currently has a solar farm but is planning to increase its capacity. In particular, the islands were chosen as a test of the charging technology as a traditional concern around electric cars is the fear that they could run out of energy on longer journeys.

The Isles are planning on building charging points into new homes built on the Isles in the coming decade, helping to facilitate the transition towards a fully integrated electric car/renewable energy infrastructure.