Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ASCEND (Accelerate poSitive Clean ENergy Districts)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31
ASCEND (Accelerate positive Clean Energy Districts) seeks to accelerate the implementation of positive, clean energy districts (PCED) for cities’ transition toward climate neutrality and social justice across Europe. We will:
- Deliver two inclusive, affordable PCEDs in Lyon and Munich;
- Successfully "bootstrap" implementation of PCEDs in the Multiplier Cities of Alba Iulia (RO), Budapest (HU), Charleroi (BE), Prague (CZ), Porto (PT), Stockholm (SE);
- Scale-up solution packages for a large community of cities and investors across Europe;
- Disseminate our results widely to the smart cities community.
Our overarching goals are to i) Make cities healthier, inclusive and climate-neutral; ii) Speed up and scale up the deployment of cost-effective PCEDs solution packages.
“Getting PCEDs done” across Europe entails the following actions for ASCEND:
First, large-scale demonstrations in Lighthouse Cities (LHCs), using existing knowledge built by generation of Smart Cities Projects, offering well-proven and cost-effective solutions packages, scalable by design to cities across Europe.
Second, developing our solutions packages across the entire life of the district: from design to implementation and maintenance, performances must be maintained and increased thanks to an urban orchestrator aiming to coordinate the ecosystem in the long run.
Third, creating a PCEDs replication wave during ASCEND in our eight partnering cities by iterating between the development of solutions packages and deployment in LHCs and Multiplier cities (MCs) during the project and not after. MCs will achieve impact by bootstrapping their PCEDs during the project.
Finally, triggering a PCED wave through outcome-driven collaboration with EC initiatives, such as Climate-Neutral and Smart City Mission, Covenant of Mayor, Smart Cities Marketplace, Scalable cities but also with the deployment of City Alliances in the eight cities, targeting small cities, not used to European projects.
- Deliver two inclusive, affordable PCEDs in Lyon and Munich;
- Successfully "bootstrap" implementation of PCEDs in the Multiplier Cities of Alba Iulia (RO), Budapest (HU), Charleroi (BE), Prague (CZ), Porto (PT), Stockholm (SE);
- Scale-up solution packages for a large community of cities and investors across Europe;
- Disseminate our results widely to the smart cities community.
Our overarching goals are to i) Make cities healthier, inclusive and climate-neutral; ii) Speed up and scale up the deployment of cost-effective PCEDs solution packages.
“Getting PCEDs done” across Europe entails the following actions for ASCEND:
First, large-scale demonstrations in Lighthouse Cities (LHCs), using existing knowledge built by generation of Smart Cities Projects, offering well-proven and cost-effective solutions packages, scalable by design to cities across Europe.
Second, developing our solutions packages across the entire life of the district: from design to implementation and maintenance, performances must be maintained and increased thanks to an urban orchestrator aiming to coordinate the ecosystem in the long run.
Third, creating a PCEDs replication wave during ASCEND in our eight partnering cities by iterating between the development of solutions packages and deployment in LHCs and Multiplier cities (MCs) during the project and not after. MCs will achieve impact by bootstrapping their PCEDs during the project.
Finally, triggering a PCED wave through outcome-driven collaboration with EC initiatives, such as Climate-Neutral and Smart City Mission, Covenant of Mayor, Smart Cities Marketplace, Scalable cities but also with the deployment of City Alliances in the eight cities, targeting small cities, not used to European projects.
During the first project year, ASCEND has focused on two key objectives: i) establishing the project structure and detailed roadmaps to refine the solutions and their pathway towards implementation ii) deploying the solutions in the LHCs and MCs.
The activities have started in Lyon with setting up the local project management and coordination processes. The implementation timeline for each solution has been defined in the PCED Roadmap, quickly set into motion. Significant progress has been made on energy communities with the legal and business models definition of the future energy community management entity, the construction and refurbishment of high-energy performance buildings have been launched, and a demonstrator for a decarbonised logistics hub has been commissioned. Last, a local council on positive clean energy district has been launched with 70 public and private stakeholders with regular workshops.
Likewise, a dedicated project team has been established in Munich and the project office was opened in the Harthof district, where first energy consultations started and information events took place. The initial version of a project portal for shared planning information was set up with a 3D Site Model of the district. An intensive analysis of the structure of the area has been carried out, including planning for energy communities, serial refurbishment of buildings with energy monitoring, PV installations, and mobility aspects, such as opening a first mobility station for seniors. The construction activities are planned to start in 2024.
The assessment of local framework and needs for MCs has been developed thanks to five harvesting workshops carried out in each city. The implementation plans have been developed and have started to be implemented. The preparation of the capacity building programme is ongoing, defining topics, participants and calendars for a launch planned in spring 2024.
Through an extensive co-creation process involving stakeholders from both LHCs and other project partners, an integrated monitoring and evaluation methodology has been established with a list of 30 Core KPIs to be monitored in ASCEND.
The activities have started in Lyon with setting up the local project management and coordination processes. The implementation timeline for each solution has been defined in the PCED Roadmap, quickly set into motion. Significant progress has been made on energy communities with the legal and business models definition of the future energy community management entity, the construction and refurbishment of high-energy performance buildings have been launched, and a demonstrator for a decarbonised logistics hub has been commissioned. Last, a local council on positive clean energy district has been launched with 70 public and private stakeholders with regular workshops.
Likewise, a dedicated project team has been established in Munich and the project office was opened in the Harthof district, where first energy consultations started and information events took place. The initial version of a project portal for shared planning information was set up with a 3D Site Model of the district. An intensive analysis of the structure of the area has been carried out, including planning for energy communities, serial refurbishment of buildings with energy monitoring, PV installations, and mobility aspects, such as opening a first mobility station for seniors. The construction activities are planned to start in 2024.
The assessment of local framework and needs for MCs has been developed thanks to five harvesting workshops carried out in each city. The implementation plans have been developed and have started to be implemented. The preparation of the capacity building programme is ongoing, defining topics, participants and calendars for a launch planned in spring 2024.
Through an extensive co-creation process involving stakeholders from both LHCs and other project partners, an integrated monitoring and evaluation methodology has been established with a list of 30 Core KPIs to be monitored in ASCEND.
We have taken several directions that will help us reach our objectives and hopefully go beyond the state of the art:
The KPI approach implemented for monitoring has been a “First of its Kind”. A limited set of Core KPIs has been co-defined with cities to avoid the usual trap of a top-down approach, which can frequently end with a long list of indicators that are either difficult to collect or lack relevance. We expect to be more efficient in managing and evaluating the projects’ impact. We have started to develop the KPI engine and added a sandbox. Cities have access to the sandbox and can start to work with the open data shared within their private spaces, allowing them to use an urban data platform on concrete cases.
"Scalability by design", aiming to embed scalability in the design phase of the solutions. Usually, exploitation and replication come on the agenda in the last years of the project when a tangible product is almost there. However, as it is often too late to develop a sound upscaling strategy; the projects frequently fall or stay stuck in the “pilot trap”. By creating a set of tailored tools for scalability (sandbox, business models, maturity models and MCDA) and a global Capacity Building Program combining community of practices, expert training and site visits, we expect to prepare a sound exploitation during the project execution.
Last, the Lyon local coordination team has used the work carried out on buildings to set up a Technical Guide used to assess the compliance of the electrical design of PV systems (Guide UTE C15-712-1). The update of the Technical Guide is expected to be released by January 2024.
The KPI approach implemented for monitoring has been a “First of its Kind”. A limited set of Core KPIs has been co-defined with cities to avoid the usual trap of a top-down approach, which can frequently end with a long list of indicators that are either difficult to collect or lack relevance. We expect to be more efficient in managing and evaluating the projects’ impact. We have started to develop the KPI engine and added a sandbox. Cities have access to the sandbox and can start to work with the open data shared within their private spaces, allowing them to use an urban data platform on concrete cases.
"Scalability by design", aiming to embed scalability in the design phase of the solutions. Usually, exploitation and replication come on the agenda in the last years of the project when a tangible product is almost there. However, as it is often too late to develop a sound upscaling strategy; the projects frequently fall or stay stuck in the “pilot trap”. By creating a set of tailored tools for scalability (sandbox, business models, maturity models and MCDA) and a global Capacity Building Program combining community of practices, expert training and site visits, we expect to prepare a sound exploitation during the project execution.
Last, the Lyon local coordination team has used the work carried out on buildings to set up a Technical Guide used to assess the compliance of the electrical design of PV systems (Guide UTE C15-712-1). The update of the Technical Guide is expected to be released by January 2024.