The rehabilitation and regeneration of the heat network of the SmartEnCity project in Vitoria has been completed

The SmartEnCity project for the rehabilitation and regeneration of the Coronación neighborhood in Vitoria-Gasteiz is progressing. After more than a year of intensive technical and inter-institutional work, the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, Visesa (the Basque public company under the Deputy Ministry of Housing of the Basque Government's Department of the Environment, Territorial Policy and Housing, responsible for coordinating the project), the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), Giroa-Veolia, and the Errotazaharra neighborhood association have presented new details about this project. The objective of this Eurplan, in which Vitoria-Gasteiz is participating along with the cities of Tartu and Sonderborg, is to develop and deploy integrated and balanced solutions in energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, and ICT to improve the quality of life for residents of this area of ​​the capital of Álava. The Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Gorka Urtaran; the CEO of VISESA, Carlos Quindós; and the CEO of the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), Iñigo Ansola, were present at the event. The general manager of Giroa-Veolia, Juan Manuel Taracena; and the neighborhood representative of the Errotazaharra association, César Caño, were in charge of providing the information this morning at a press conference in the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Hall.

The mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Gorka Urtaran, explained that this is a “highly complex, demonstrative project, lasting five years, which aims to develop a strategy at the eurlevel.” Due to this complexity, the mayor noted, significant inter-institutional and technical work has been necessary to develop and define the project over the past few months. “Now we have all the information that the residents of Coronación have been requesting. And the time has come to share it with them so they can join the initiative, because we have deadlines set by the EurCommunity and thresholds that we must all reach together. The commitment to Coronación will only make sense if it is shared by local stakeholders, by the people and groups who live and work in the neighborhood. Therefore, I would like to encourage the public to share this experience and work together to improve the quality of life for the residents of this area.”.

The mayor also mentioned some of the issues the City Council has resolved in recent months, such as the approval of the neighborhood's Special Plan to regulate the urban development of the planned projects, the municipal contribution to the guarantee fund, and the participatory process in which the residents of Coronación were able to prioritize the various projects planned by the City Council in the area of ​​public space. The City Council has allocated two million eurto these projects as an extraordinary contribution.

For his part, Carlos Quindós, CEO of VISESA, explained that the EurCommission has set “strict deadlines for obtaining the aid. The building renovations must be completed by 2019, so residents must decide whether they want to join this project before November 30th. A minimum number of residents joining the project is also necessary for the viability of the entire district heating network infrastructure. This threshold is set at 750 homes.” To gain this support from the neighborhood, it is considered essential that residents have access to all the relevant information. In this regard, Carlos Quindós announced a series of workshops that will be held at the Aldabe Civic Center this coming weekend. “We are going to create a space to listen, exchange opinions, learn about the experiences of people who have participated in similar rehabilitation projects, and clarify any doubts with professionals from Visesa, the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, EVE, and Giroa-Veolia. We know that many questions and concerns have arisen along this process, and these sessions will help to address them. They will be held on Friday the 23rd (from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM) and Saturday the 24th (from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM). Several information sessions have been organized where participants can learn about the project and experiences from other neighborhoods. There will also be five thematic roundtables on 'urban space,' 'energy rehabilitation,' 'contracts and financing,' 'heating network,' and 'other experiences,' where attendees can ask all their questions,” said Carlos Quindós.

The Basque Government and the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council have decided to provide supplementary aid to the eur, regional, and local grants already allocated to the project, in order to facilitate access for those with limited incomes and difficulties obtaining financing. This aid will allow homeowners to cover a percentage of the non-subsidized costs of the rehabilitation work, ranging from 25% to 85%, depending on the household income.

In addition to the Guarantee Fund, another instrument has been made available to facilitate financing for the portion of the project not covered by public aid. Kutxabank, Laboral Kutxa, Bankoa, and Rural Kutxa have joined this financial agreement promoted by VISESA. This agreement establishes very attractive financial terms so that both individual residents and communities can access loans with terms of 8 to 12 years, allowing them to manage monthly loan payments in line with their financial capacity.

The CEO of EVE, Iñigo Ansola, explained that “this project will give a major boost to the use of renewable energy from biomass in Araba. Furthermore, it will be implemented through an urban heating network, a concept widely used in Eurand one of the most efficient ways to utilize this energy. In our view, Coronación has the necessary components for the institutions to become involved, as you can see here today. We would also like the residents of the neighborhood to feel like key players in this project, which aims to use clean energy efficiently, competitively, and with all the necessary guarantees. There is no doubt that, given the opportunities offered by biomass, Araba is a leader in its use and in sustainable energy development. Roughly speaking, there are more than 1,000 biomass-based heat generation installations operating in Araba, belonging to the residential, industrial, primary, and service sectors. In total, they represent almost 30 megawatts of installed capacity. There is significant room for further growth.” "The use of biomass in our Basque Country's mountains could increase from the 57% I mentioned earlier to 72% of the renewable energy consumed here. We urge all residents of Coronación to learn more, attend the informational meetings, and invest in a bright future for their neighborhood.".

Biomass to Generate Heat in the Neighborhood.
From Giroa-Veolia, Juan Manuel Taracena explained that “the District Heating Network is a system for producing and distributing heat centrally to a group of connected users, while allowing for individual heating for each resident. The heat is produced at the new central plant next to the Aldabe civic center and distributed through underground pipes to the substation in each building (the current boiler room in blocks with existing central heating). In homes with individual boilers, these are replaced by a heating and hot water supply cabinet with its own individual energy meter. Once connected to the network, the building no longer requires boilers or flammable fuels (gas or heating oil), eliminating the risks associated with centralized (boiler room) or domestic (individual boilers) installations. Likewise, spaces currently occupied by boilers are freed up, significantly simplifying the process.” substations. Thanks to the use of locally sourced biomass with lower price variability than fossil fuels, as well as improvements in facade insulation, economic savings of 20% are achieved in heating and hot water bills.”

As Taracena explained, the planned model for the Coronación neighborhood adheres to the sustainability principles required by Eur, which in the Basque Country are endorsed by Decree 178/2015 issued by the Basque Government's Department of Economic Development and Sustainability. This decree sets consumption reduction targets for the public sector of 12% by 2020 and 25% by 2025. It also establishes a target of 32% by 2020 and 40% by 2025 for buildings to have renewable energy installations, which may include both thermal and electrical generation systems. "The installation to be implemented in the Coronación neighborhood far exceeds the objectives identified in the Basque Government's Decree on Energy Sustainability," he stated.

The primary fuel used will be forest biomass from forest clearing and/or energy crops. This is an environmentally friendly fuel, considered renewable, and therefore reduces CO2 emissions when used as a substitute for fossil fuels. There is a large surplus of biomass in our region, which will reduce energy dependence on foreign sources and eliminate the price volatility so common with traditional energy. The network will also include natural gas equipment to increase flexibility and ensure service through multiple heat sources. Each resident will have individual access to their heating; that is, although the heat is generated centrally, residents will not be subject to specific schedules that limit heating use but will manage both heating and hot water as they see fit. They will have access to a platform where they can view individual consumption and review the accumulated cost of heating and hot water at any given time. The service will be billed using two components: a fixed charge and a variable charge based on each user's actual consumption. Thus, the aim is for each resident to be able to manage the use of the service as well as its cost individually.