Page 57 - European Energy Innovation magazine - autumn 2022 edition

Autumn 2022 European Energy Innovation 57
From smart city innovator to climate neutral SMART CITIES

pioneer: what makes Rotterdam a NetZeroCity?

Meeting climate targets through
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smart energy management more than 18,000m of solar panels
are being installed on rooftops in the
By Schuyler Cowan, Communications Officer, ICLEI Europe The Heart of South (Hart van Zuid) is area – many are already installed
already experiencing positive impacts on the Ahoy Centre and Congress
as a result of the Smart Thermal Grid. Centre roofs. These smart solutions
The project is expected to continue attach the Congress and Ahoy centres
lowering CO emissions, in addition to the grid and are expected to be
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to creating substantial energy savings, upscaled at a local cinema, hotel,
generating renewable energy and shopping mall, apartment complex
strengthening the local economy. The and hospital.
grid’s ability to integrate a multitude
of solutions to ensure energy stability, The benefits for local businesses
security and efficiency for the local are evident: energy bills are steadily
community is helping the City of declining with the implementation
Rotterdam, and Europe, meet its of the grid and many jobs will
ambitious energy and climate targets. continue to be created for energy
infrastructure companies to carry
The geothermal heat-cold storage out the initiative. As a result of its
and heat pumps reduce energy connection to the grid, the Ahoy
consumption by 924,000 kWh per Complex is now independent from
year, which results in a CO emission fossil fuel based energy sources;
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reduction of 70 tonnes per year. The a large share of its energy and
capacity of the geothermal aquifer electricity is produced locally, on site
storage (ATES) is 155m of water or extracted from underground.
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pumped per hour; alongside this,
and distribution, and to demonstrate the district heating network supplies Climate-neutral starts with
– locally, nationally and on a just over one million kWh per year, smart cities
European level – that the large-scale resulting in a CO reduction of 146 Rotterdam’s ambitious energy action,
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integration of clean energy solutions tonnes per year. demonstrated through initiatives like
with stakeholders across sectors is the ‘Heart of South Smart Thermal
possible, profitable and effective. At the same time, energy derived Grid’ helped prepare it for the
Technical solutions are being from local wastewater is able to NetZeroCities call: to take part in an
combined in a first-of-its-kind Smart reduce consumption by 136.000 kWh challenging endeavour to achieve
Thermal Grid. The grid uses energy per year, resulting in a CO reduction climate neutrality by 2030 and lead
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generated with the help of residents, of 28 tonnes per year. A heat-cold the way for other European towns
businesses and local buildings to collector installed in a section of and cities.
fulfil the neighbourhood’s energy the neighborhood’s pavement is
demands; energy is extracted from decreasing local energy consumption A closer look at Rotterdam’s energy
wastewater, pavements and more. by 109,000 kWh per year. This project is but one small example of
amounts to a CO reduction of 52 the useful blueprints that cities – like
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The Smart Grid centres on thermal tonnes per year. Rotterdam, Glasgow and Umeå –
based solutions, which are connected have to offer. Their experiences can
to the grid via pipes that transport Finally, the grid’s sophisticated help others avoid pitfalls and further
energy from wells underground. overarching energy management exploit successes.
Depending on the season, the Smart system is estimated to save 139,000
Grid is capable of providing heating kWh/year or a 56 tonne reduction of The path to climate neutrality and
and cooling and is able to instantly CO emissions per year. a smart, resilient city is demanding.
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redistribute energy or store it for However, many of the cities selected
later use below ground. The grid The City also collaborates with local as part of the 100 Climate Neutral
is unique as it connects several stakeholders so that they can benefit and Smart Cities began their journeys
energy sources, while integrated from, and contribute to, the Smart long ago with a focus on smart
monitoring ensures top performance. Thermal Grid. Heart of South is home energy solutions. It’s now up to others
At the time of implementation, this to many large buildings, including the to take advantage of this knowledge
integration of energy generation, Ahoy Convention Centre, which can and to position themselves as
storage and reduction was new to the host 16,500 people. To boost these environmental and climate leaders,
Netherlands. buildings’ clean energy production, alongside their peers. l

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