Periodic Reporting for period 3 - MAKING-CITY (Energy efficient pathway for the city transformation: enabling a positive future)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-06-01 do 2022-05-31
The goals of MAKING-CITY are established around two main pillars: the Positive Energy District (PED) and the Energy Transition, which is currently a pillar for fighting against climate change. So our main objective is to demonstrate the PED concept and develop new integrated strategies to address the urban energy system transformation towards low carbon cities, with this PED approach as the core of the urban energy transition pathway.
As a large-scale demonstration project, MAKING-CITY is implementing in its Lighthouses cities, Groningen in Netherlands and Oulu in Finland, 3 real scale demo PEDs and replicate the PED concept in its Follower cities: León (Spain), Bassano del Grappa (Italy), Kadıköy (Turkey), Trenčín (Slovakia), Vidin (Bulgaria) and Lublin (Poland).
Apart from the PED development in the Lighthouse cities and the PED execution project in the Follower ones, the advanced urban planning is being focused for all cities involved in the project, which address the development of an overall transformation process with horizon set up on 2050. In MAKING-CITY, a change at organizational level has been promoted by the creation of a City Planning Office that is supported with the appropriate tools to address a new and really innovative urban planning approach. After this and a strong training process, the project is addressing a very innovative and ambitious roadmap to the cities with a long-term horizon, 2050.
Since PED is a relative recent concept, MAKING-CITY has adopted the following definition: “A Positive Energy District is an urban area with clear boundaries, consisting on buildings of different typologies that actively manage the energy flow between them and the larger energy system to reach an annual positive energy balance”. Therefore, one of the most important aspects to be considered is the Annual Energy Balance calculation procedure.
Although in principle a PED approach seems a solid and ambitious strategy, this should be completed with long term urban planning to ensure upscaling and fostering higher impacts. Currently city energy plans are starting to be designed with a 2030 horizon, according to the standard city commitments, as for instance those reflected in SECAPs and other more specific city plans (e.g. SUMPs, Digital Agendas…). The project faces a huge challenge, consisting on developing not only a 2030 approach but a longer term 2050 City Vision that guarantees a seamless city transformation from planning to implementation and further upscaling.
MAKING-CITY addresses procedures and methodologies to support cities in their long term urban planning towards an adequate energy transition, paving the way of the planning, implementation and up-scaling process. This procedure is approached by a 3-layers planning process: long term planning 2050 will be the high level approach, medium term approach (SEAP/SECAPs) towards 2030 and short term (execution plan) with a time horizon of about 5 years.
As a large-scale demonstration project, MAKING-CITY is implementing in its Lighthouses cities, Groningen in Netherlands and Oulu in Finland, 3 real scale demo PEDs and replicate the PED concept in its Follower cities: León (Spain), Bassano del Grappa (Italy), Kadıköy (Turkey), Trenčín (Slovakia), Vidin (Bulgaria) and Lublin (Poland).
Apart from the PED development in the Lighthouse cities and the PED execution project in the Follower ones, the advanced urban planning is being focused for all cities involved in the project, which address the development of an overall transformation process with horizon set up on 2050. In MAKING-CITY, a change at organizational level has been promoted by the creation of a City Planning Office that is supported with the appropriate tools to address a new and really innovative urban planning approach. After this and a strong training process, the project is addressing a very innovative and ambitious roadmap to the cities with a long-term horizon, 2050.
Since PED is a relative recent concept, MAKING-CITY has adopted the following definition: “A Positive Energy District is an urban area with clear boundaries, consisting on buildings of different typologies that actively manage the energy flow between them and the larger energy system to reach an annual positive energy balance”. Therefore, one of the most important aspects to be considered is the Annual Energy Balance calculation procedure.
Although in principle a PED approach seems a solid and ambitious strategy, this should be completed with long term urban planning to ensure upscaling and fostering higher impacts. Currently city energy plans are starting to be designed with a 2030 horizon, according to the standard city commitments, as for instance those reflected in SECAPs and other more specific city plans (e.g. SUMPs, Digital Agendas…). The project faces a huge challenge, consisting on developing not only a 2030 approach but a longer term 2050 City Vision that guarantees a seamless city transformation from planning to implementation and further upscaling.
MAKING-CITY addresses procedures and methodologies to support cities in their long term urban planning towards an adequate energy transition, paving the way of the planning, implementation and up-scaling process. This procedure is approached by a 3-layers planning process: long term planning 2050 will be the high level approach, medium term approach (SEAP/SECAPs) towards 2030 and short term (execution plan) with a time horizon of about 5 years.
During the execution of the project specific the main achievements have been:
• The methodological framework for the Advanced Long-Term Planning is defined and the guidelines to organize and implement Sustainable Energy Planning in cities are ready. Studied the city plans and stablished the methodology for a good city diagnosis and a comprehensive city level evaluation. Strengths and weaknesses of each city have been identified. Energy modelling of all of them is ready for identifying demands and stablish new Long Term energy scenarios of the cities and evaluate the evolution of the energy matrix of the city during the following decades.
• A capacity building toolbox is being developed comprising a combination of a mix of complementary policy instruments tailored to fit the capacity building needs of each city to give effect to the defined capacity building strategy.
• Initial alternative scenarios for the 8 cities of the project have been developed to guide their energy transition towards 2050 with information about their potential energy framework for 2050.
• Almost all of the actions have been implemented in the demo PEDs of the Lighthouse cities. Most of them have started their monitoring stage, meanwhile others have been redefined.
• Robust monitoring and evaluation protocols have been stablished for each demo cities to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the project actions compared to the initial situation, initial objectives and expected results.
• Developed the methodology for PED design and for the calculation of the annual energy balance in a PED. Guidelines for the easy implementation of both procedures are ready to allow the replication.
• Areas for implementing the PED methodologies studied and selected in the follower cities. PEDs have been designed inside them and are being valorised from the financial point of view.
• Stakeholders involved in PEDs have been mapped and their individual interests and interactions have been analysed in order to provide a framework to be used for the development of business models in the Lighthouse cities and for replication activities in Follower cities and beyond.
• The collaboration with Lighthouse framework and other entities has been completely stablished. National collaboration has been deployed into our cities’ countries through the GBCs. The MAKING-CITY Think Tank, Reflect, has been launched to push the debate on PEDs.
• Dissemination material ready according to the D&C plan. Regular newsletter shows the project results. Videos about project challenges ready in the media channels. Mid-term event presenting the firsts results of the project have carried out.
• The methodological framework for the Advanced Long-Term Planning is defined and the guidelines to organize and implement Sustainable Energy Planning in cities are ready. Studied the city plans and stablished the methodology for a good city diagnosis and a comprehensive city level evaluation. Strengths and weaknesses of each city have been identified. Energy modelling of all of them is ready for identifying demands and stablish new Long Term energy scenarios of the cities and evaluate the evolution of the energy matrix of the city during the following decades.
• A capacity building toolbox is being developed comprising a combination of a mix of complementary policy instruments tailored to fit the capacity building needs of each city to give effect to the defined capacity building strategy.
• Initial alternative scenarios for the 8 cities of the project have been developed to guide their energy transition towards 2050 with information about their potential energy framework for 2050.
• Almost all of the actions have been implemented in the demo PEDs of the Lighthouse cities. Most of them have started their monitoring stage, meanwhile others have been redefined.
• Robust monitoring and evaluation protocols have been stablished for each demo cities to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the project actions compared to the initial situation, initial objectives and expected results.
• Developed the methodology for PED design and for the calculation of the annual energy balance in a PED. Guidelines for the easy implementation of both procedures are ready to allow the replication.
• Areas for implementing the PED methodologies studied and selected in the follower cities. PEDs have been designed inside them and are being valorised from the financial point of view.
• Stakeholders involved in PEDs have been mapped and their individual interests and interactions have been analysed in order to provide a framework to be used for the development of business models in the Lighthouse cities and for replication activities in Follower cities and beyond.
• The collaboration with Lighthouse framework and other entities has been completely stablished. National collaboration has been deployed into our cities’ countries through the GBCs. The MAKING-CITY Think Tank, Reflect, has been launched to push the debate on PEDs.
• Dissemination material ready according to the D&C plan. Regular newsletter shows the project results. Videos about project challenges ready in the media channels. Mid-term event presenting the firsts results of the project have carried out.
The MAKING-CITY main impact is to provide new integrated strategies to address the urban energy system transformation towards low carbon cities with the positive energy district approach as the core of the urban energy transition pathway.
Important progresses have been carried out towards achieving this impact of the project, through the activities that are setting the basis for the demonstration activities that are currently setting the first steps. Thus, the activities delivered support the following impacts that will be fully evaluated after the completion of the demonstration actions:
• It is expected to have 9 PEDs in full operation before the end of 2025. Three in the lighthouse cities and one in each of the follower cities
• Development of 8 Long-Term City plans. Each city is developing their own City Vision 2050 as a detailed roadmap for the city on how to move from planning, to implementation and also to replication and scaling up of successful solutions.
• MAKING-CITY actions will contribute on average with a 5.1% to the global objectives of the two lighthouse cities SECAP and SEAP in terms of sustainability.
• 73 % of the total electricity needs in the demonstrator will be covered by RES and 88 % of the thermal. MAKING-CITY will go beyond the building codes achieving a 63 % of improvement and 637 tCO2 emissions avoided due to this very efficient design and extensive use of RES.
• During and beyond project, it is expected to develop and exploit around 20 new business models for MAKING-CITY Smart City solutions, ensure that at least 5 are bankable solutions and putting into practice around 15 novel ideas incubated
• MAKING-CITY will trigger the creation of 4,358 new jobs through the roll-out of Positive Energy Districts in the 8 cites participating in MAKING-CITY establishment of newly emerging
Important progresses have been carried out towards achieving this impact of the project, through the activities that are setting the basis for the demonstration activities that are currently setting the first steps. Thus, the activities delivered support the following impacts that will be fully evaluated after the completion of the demonstration actions:
• It is expected to have 9 PEDs in full operation before the end of 2025. Three in the lighthouse cities and one in each of the follower cities
• Development of 8 Long-Term City plans. Each city is developing their own City Vision 2050 as a detailed roadmap for the city on how to move from planning, to implementation and also to replication and scaling up of successful solutions.
• MAKING-CITY actions will contribute on average with a 5.1% to the global objectives of the two lighthouse cities SECAP and SEAP in terms of sustainability.
• 73 % of the total electricity needs in the demonstrator will be covered by RES and 88 % of the thermal. MAKING-CITY will go beyond the building codes achieving a 63 % of improvement and 637 tCO2 emissions avoided due to this very efficient design and extensive use of RES.
• During and beyond project, it is expected to develop and exploit around 20 new business models for MAKING-CITY Smart City solutions, ensure that at least 5 are bankable solutions and putting into practice around 15 novel ideas incubated
• MAKING-CITY will trigger the creation of 4,358 new jobs through the roll-out of Positive Energy Districts in the 8 cites participating in MAKING-CITY establishment of newly emerging