Transcript Document

Newsletter Issue No 2
March 2014
The project
Final workshop
Green-Twinning is an Intelligent Energy Europe
project which aims at strengthening the technical
and financial capacity of local authorities in the
fields of sustainable energy policies and
implementation.
The Green-Twinning project supports municipalities
from Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia and
Romania to fulfill their commitments in the
framework of the Covenant of Mayors initiative
through various tools such as training courses, a
helpdesk and the conclusion of twinning agreements
between “learning” municipalities with little
experience in sustainable energy planning and
implementation and “experienced” local authorities
from Spain.
The
Final
Conference “Green Twinning:
Municipalities together
for
smart
and
sustainable
energy
solutions” was organized
on 20 March 2014 in the
Committee
of
the
Regions in Brussels.
The conference was well
attended,
with
75
participants from EU
countries. The conference presented the main
activities and results of the two-year cooperation
among 10 partners, regarding the development and
implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
Experiences and lessons learnt were presented by
mayors and representatives of municipalities.
A roundtable discussion on the challenges and
perspectives of the EU sustainable policies at local and
regional level took place during the last part of the
conference and was completed with a debate with the
public. The participants were representatives of the
European Parliament, Committee of the Regions,
Covenant of Mayors Office, Greek Permanent
Representation to the EU, Directorate – General for
Energy of the European Commission (DG Ener) and
mayors of Smolyan and Giurgiu municipalities.
Partnership
• Regional Union of Municipalities of Attica
(Coordinator) - EL
• EXERGIA Energy and Environment
Consultants S.A. - EL
• Sofia Energy Centre - BG
• Association of Rhodope Municipalities BG
• Polish Network “Energie Cités” - PL
• Municipality of Giurgiu - RO
• Building and Civil Engineering Institute - SI
• Energy Agency of La Ribera - SP
• Municipality of Vrhnika - SI
• Harghita County Council - Energy
Management Agency - RO
The main conclusion of the conference was the need
to develop stronger cooperation and communication
between EU and local authorities in order to improve
the implementation of sustainable energy policies and
to design compliance strategies and enforcement
programs.
It is clear that energy efficiency is the key element of
European Union sustainability strategy. Projects like
Green Twinning, underline the major importance of
the European Union energy reduction planning.
Newsletter Issue No 2
March 2014
Benchmark of excellence
Solar energy used in the
rural municipality of
Lubin (PNEC) – (PL)
In the years 2012-2013
the municipality of Lubin
completed the project
"Construction of lighting
points supplied from re newable sources", which included the supply and
installation of 22 sets of street lighting with LED
light source powered by batteries charged from
photovoltaic panels with a capacity of 360 -380
W. The total cost of this investment was 46 000€.
In 2014, the municipality plans to implement new
25 lighting points powered from renewable
sources. Planned expenditure amounts to 50 000
€.
In addition, on the roofs of three buildings of rural
community centers in Gola, Obora and Zimna
Woda, built in 2010 - 2013, solar collectors which
support central heating and domestic hot water
production were installed Recuperators were
used in the ventilation system. Lubin is a Green
Twinning partner of Dzierżoniów.
Event
National training event in Bulgaria
SEC and ARM organized a national training event
on SEAP development and implementation which
was held in Bulgarian. The event was based on the
training material of the two international training
events. The training took place in Asenovgrad, on
the 21st November 2013
and was attended by 11
representatives of 6
municipalities.
Green Twinning Helpdesk
http://helpdesk.greentwinning.eu/home
Benchmarks of excellence
Solar installation
for improvement
of air quality in
Kościerzyna (PL)
The municipality
of Kościerzyna is
implementing a
programme of installation of thermal solar plants for
hot water production called “Solar Kościerzyna building solar installations as an opportunity for
permanent improvement of air quality by using
renewable energy sources”. Thermal solar collectors
will be installed at 125 residential buildings and
within a year will produce about 575 GJ of clean
energy. The average annual savings on energy bills
of all residential buildings participating in the project
will reach 6 800€ . They will also contribute to a
reduction of CO2 emissions amounting to 77.5
Mg/year. The municipality of Kościerzyna, in the
framework of the Green Twinning project, also
seized the opportunity to exchange experience on
solar projects and best practices with the
municipality of Padul – Spanish twinning partner.
Ilion municipality participating in a twinning
agreement PEDA - (EL)
Municipality of Ilion signed a twinning agreement
with the municipality of Armilla (Granada, Spain) in
order to exchange experience and best practices
related to RES & RUE issues.
Armilla, gives Ilion technical support in
implementing sustainable energy actions in the
framework of the CoM initiative and more
specifically in:
• (a) Street lighting including a study which records
the existing street lighting levels in the municipality, (b) the use of a centralized
GIS system for the design and
management of street lighting
and
(c)
installation
and
upgrading to Led lights for the
reduction
of
electricity
consumption.
• Green Roofs in public buildings.
Newsletter Issue No 2
March 2014
Benchmark of Excellence
Thermal retrofitting of the railway station of
Piaseczno (PL)
The modernization of the building of the
Voluntary Fire Brigade in Chojnów, in Piaseczno
municipality, which was completed in January
2014 and connected with other modernization
works, resulted in a reduction of energy
consumption coming to approx. 21.36
MWh/year (14%) and a CO2 emission reduction
of 4.3 Mg/year.
Another building selected for the thermal
retrofitting was a railway station in Piaseczno
which was constructed in the 30-ties of the XX
century. The thermal retrofitting is being
undertaken in conjunction with other
renovation works and the revitalization of the
area around the building.
Green Twinning
Achievements
In the framework of
the Green Twinning
project, 23 local
authorities joined
the Covenant of
Mayors, committing
to reduce their CO2
emissions by at least 20% by 2020 while 18
municipalities developed their SEAPs.
Covenant of Mayors signatories:
Greece: Paiania
Bulgaria: Smolyan, Laki, Banite, Chepelare, Nedelino
Poland: Pałecznica, Śrem, Lubin, Częstochowa,
Dąbrowa Górnicza, Przykona, Lisków, Łękawica,
Porąbka, Słupsk, Toruń, Przemyśl
Originally it was heated with heating oil and
electricity. After the thermal retrofitting the
building will be connected to the municipal
district heating network. The expected
financial savings will reach annually over
30.000 €.
The municipality of Piaseczno is a Green
Twinning partner of Guadix (SP).
Slovenia: Vrhnika, Idrija, Kranj, Tolmin
Romania: Miercurea Ciuc, Borsec
SEAPs submitted to the Covenant of Mayors:
Greece: Ilion, Agioi Anargyroi-Kamatero , Ilioupoli,
Nea Smyrni, Nea Ionia, Agios Dimitrios
Poland: Koscierzyna, Piaseczno
Slovenia: Idrija
Romania: Sfantu Gheorghe, Giurgiu
Paiania (EL), Śrem (PL), Kranj (SL), Vrhnika (SL),
Kočevje (SL), Tolmin (SL) and Zagorje ob Savi (SL)
municipalities participated in Green Twinning
activities and were supported by the project
consultants in order to develop their SEAPs. The
above mentioned local authorities will submit their
action plans to the CoM during the next period.
www.green-twinning.eu
Newsletter Issue No 2
March 2014
Benchmark of excellence
Twinnings among local
authorities from Spain and
other EU countries (Province
of Granada)
The Province of Granada has
involved 9 of its municipalities
in GREEN TWINNING Project,
and thus, those municipalities
and other EU municipalities
RES & RUE issues. The kick-off meetings occurred
from July until November 2013 in Spain. The
Mayors of all the municipalities formally signed the
Memorandum of Agreement.
Twinning agreements bring municipalities together
in order to develop administrative capacity related
to CoM initiative and even to facilitate the adoption
of successful RES & RUE actions implemented
previously by the other partner.
Event
3rd national workshop in Greece
On the 10th of January 2014, PEDA organized the
3rd national workshop “Energy saving in street
lighting” with the participation of 30
representatives of PoL municipalities and
stakeholders. The workshop focused on the
experience of Ilioupoli and Ilion PoL municipalities
in street lighting in connection with the twinnings
with the Spanish municipalities.
The main issues relating to street lighting
discussed were: New technologies, Monitoring and
control systems, ESCO’s, Sustainable procurements
and
contract, main problems
that Greek municipalities
face
during
the
implementation of street
light projects.
Green Twinning Helpdesk
http://helpdesk.greentwinning.eu/home
Event
Sustainable promotion
of electric household
appliances,
Giurgiu
Municipality - Romania
Following the activities
described in the recently
submitted SEAP, on the 4th of April 2014 Giurgiu
Municipality organized an event in R’ART Giurgiu
shop for electric household appliances, under the
logo: “Working with the citizens and the
stakeholders”. This awareness raising event was
aiming at informing customers on energy
consumption and the annual cost of electric
appliances and helping them in choosing electric
appliances in a sustainable way.
This action was a synergy between Green Twinning,
YAECI, Buy Smart+ and EUROTOPTEN MAX projects.
Benchmark of excellence
Twinning Agreement - L’Alcúdia Municipality (SP)
The municipality of l'Alcúdia (Valencia, Spain) and
the municipality of Giurgiu (Romania) have signed a
Twinning Agreement in order to exchange expertise
and best practices related to RES & RUE issues.
The kick-off meeting was conducted on 25-26th
April 2013 in Spain. Mayors of both municipalities
formally signed the Memorandum of Agreement
up.
Up to the present time, the main activities have
been aimed at sharing know-how on the
refurbishment of public street lighting and on
sustainable mobility.
Newsletter Issue No 2
March 2014
Twinnings after Green
Twinning
Benchmark of excellence
Ilioupoli: implementation of public awareness
activities with the support of a Spanish
municipality (PEDA) - (EL)
Ilioupoli municipality
(Attica, Greece) signed
a twinning agreement
with the municipality of
Maracena
(Granada,
Spain) in order to
exchange experience
and best practices on sustainable energy issues.
Ilioupoli, with the support of Macarena, is
implementing public awareness activities. Such
activities are a travelling school exhibition, a “bike
day” campaign, press release, printed material,
internet communication channels and seminars
for municipal employees, teachers and citizens.
The objective of the activities is to instil Energy
Efficiency as a basic value among the citizens, civil
servants and children and motivate them into
changing their energy behavior. The energy
saving potential is estimated at 20.026.738 kWh
and the CO2 abatement at 10.917 t CO2.
Voluntary Twinnings
And from now on?? What will happen with the
informal twinning partnerships once IEE funding is
over? This is a very interesting question!
To find out about this, AER prepared and
circulated a questionnaire among Green Twinning
project participants. The twinning effectiveness
evaluation survey was a good opportunity to
gather
the
opinion
of
municipalities’
representatives (politicians and civil servants) and
project Consultants about the twinning
activities/partnerships in order to evaluate process
(identifying barriers tackled, challenges overtaken
and impacts achieved), the level of satisfaction
found during the whole process and their interest
in going on with the twinning activities.
As a result of the information obtained, 100% of
informal twinning municipalities and their
respective Consultants are interested in going on
with their twinning process.
Furthermore, survey participants considered that
some of the ways to create a sustainable twinning
partnership are the followings:
•
Ensuring a two-way twinning process. Both
counterparts must benefit
•
Identifying and deploying sources of funding to
cover twinning activities
•
Expanding twinning partnership to other
municipal activities (culture, traditions, etc.)
•
Collaborating in transnational projects (EU
funding)
•
Promoting partnership and cooperation of
other municipal sectors (industry, educational
sector, etc.)
• Albal (Spain) - Agios Dimitrios (Greece)
• Alginet (Spain) - Rudozem (Bulgaria)
• Borsec (Romania) - Sfantu Gheorghe (Romania)
• Castelló de la Plana (Spain) - Nea Smyrni
(Greece)
• Lanjarón (Spain) - Paiania (Greece)
• Lubin (Poland) - Dzierżoniów (Poland)
• Nea-Smyrni (Greece) - Agioi AnargyroiKamatero (Greece)
• Pałecznica (Poland) - Niepołomice (Poland)
Green Twinning Helpdesk
http://helpdesk.greentwinning.eu/home
Definitely, the sustainability of twinning
partnerships created during Green Twinning
project is guaranteed.
The sole responsibility for the content of this newsletter lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion
of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made
of the information contained therein.