Energy System(s) Integration

As a major player in the Local Climate Plan since 2004 and as a Covenant of Mayors’ member since 2008, the city of Grenoble is committed to reducing energy consumption, encouraging the use of renewable energies, promoting social solidarity, setting up alternative forms of transport and developing environmental, architectural and urban quality. The main objectives of the Grenoble Local Climate Plan, launched in 2004, and revised in 2009, remain the reduction of local greenhouse gas emissions by factor 4 by 2050.

The Munich lighthouse demonstration area within the SMARTER TOGETHER project is located at the western edge of the city, and includes both the large urban redevelopment area Neuaubing-Westkreuz and the flagship new development area Freiham, set to become a model of low-carbon development for up to 20 000 new residents and 7 500 new jobs. With the aid of cutting-edge technology and the intelligent use of data, Munich’s objectives are to cut CO2 emissions by more than 20 %, raise the use of renewable energy to above 20 % and increase energy efficiency by more than 20 %.

Lyon is one of the lighthouse cities in the SMARTER TOGETHER project. The demonstration area in focus is Lyon-Confluence, one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in France (150 ha – 600 000 m² existing floor area – 1 million m² of new buildings) and an area of many urban innovations.

The Spanish city of San Sebastian has 186 062 inhabitants and was voted European Capital of Culture 2016. It is a touristic and commercial centre with strong emphasis on services and events. In recent years, San Sebastián has become one of the leading European cities in the context of smart and sustainable cities, largely because of its commitment to science, technology, economic development, sustainability and culture.  The city is also an internationally recognized culinary destination. 

The city of Malmö participated in the BUILDSMART project with the construction of four different types of new buildings – a hotel, office and two residential buildings – with a focus on their sustainability. The buildings are located in two areas of the city – Malmö Live, in central Malmö, and in the south-east part of the city, known as Hyllie.

In large cities such as Cologne, heat generation accounts for more than two-thirds of stationary energy consumption. This is why it is necessary to consider ways to make more efficient use of non-fossil energy sources and create more sustainable heating systems in metropolitan areas. One idea is to recover heat from wastewater systems that is currently simply flushed away.

The city of Genoa is one of the first Italian cities to commit to the implementation and promotion of the smart city holistic approach and has invested efforts into involving diverse stakeholders to work together with the objective of making a real change in sustainability. 

Gothenburg took part in the CELSIUS project with several fields of action focusing on the construction of 900 new apartments, which are to be connected to the district heating system and used as small short-term thermal storage, for connecting ships to the district heating system when docked in the harbour, and for feeding cold water from the river into the district cooling network.