Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CityxChange (Positive City ExChange)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2022-04-30
In order to have livable and functioning cities, municipalities must improve how they engage with technology, citizens, energy, and planning as smart cities, reached within an open innovation model.
The +CityxChange project is coordinated by NTNU with 32 partners, including 7 cities, large-scale industry, SMEs, NGOs, and academia. Trondheim Kommune (TK) and Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) as Lighthouse Cities together with Alba Iulia (MAI), Písek (MP), Sestao (SB), Smolyan (SMO, and Võru (VORU) as Follower Cities develop feasible and realistic demonstration projects towards Positive Energy Blocks.
These will showcase urban, digital, and energy transitions towards climate-friendly and sustainable urban environments, improved quality of life, and greener ESG-compliant business development.
+CityxChange will create solutions for Positive Energy Blocks leading to Positive Energy Districts and Cities through (i) decision support tools, urban planning support, city strategy development, and transforming urban environments, which enable informed decisions to be made by all stakeholders in the community, (ii) an approach to creating a Positive Energy Block through energy reduction and efficiency measures, local renewable, local storage, flexibility and peer-to-peer energy trading and (iii) top-down community engagement driven by the local authority and bottom-up citizen engagement to change people’s mindsets, and develop, inform, include, educate, and drive behavioral change.
The +CityxChange vision is to co-create the future we want to live in. To achieve this, the following framework is being adopted:
(i) Prototype the Future – Integrated Planning and Design
(ii) Enable the Future – Creation of a Common Energy Market
(iii) Accelerate the Future – CommunityxChange
This framework incorporates 11 Demonstration Projects which will be carried out in the Lighthouse Cities and replicated in the Follower Cities.
The 11 Demonstration Projects have the following objectives:
- Collecting data and providing integrated decision support to the cities (DP01, Model)
- Co-creating a Bold City Vision to plan, implement, replicate and scale-up to positive Energy Districts and Cities (DP02, Vision)
- Co-creating Distributed Positive Energy Blocks through citizen participation (DP03, Engage)
- Enabling innovation through regulation mechanisms (DP04, Regulatory Zone);
- Accelerating change and disruptive solutions through innovation playgrounds (DP05, Playground)
- Creating DPEBs through improved energy performance and integration with the energy system (DP06, DPEB)
- Creating the +CityxChange approach to community grids (DP07, Microgrids)
- Integrating seamless eMobility within the DPEB (DP08, eMaaS)
- Enabling local energy trading within the DPEB (DP09, Local Trading)
- Enabling a fair deal to all consumers through a local flexibility market (DP10, Flexibility Market)
- Enabling public and private stakeholders to invest in their buildings (DP11, Sustainable Investments)
These projects encompass the environmental, spatial, social, technical, digital, economic, governance, regulatory and legal aspects required to deliver Positive Energy Blocks/Districts (PEB/D). They enable scale-up and replication of PEB/Ds within and across cities and across the EU.
The +CityxChange project is coordinated by NTNU with 32 partners, including 7 cities, large-scale industry, SMEs, NGOs, and academia. Trondheim Kommune (TK) and Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) as Lighthouse Cities together with Alba Iulia (MAI), Písek (MP), Sestao (SB), Smolyan (SMO, and Võru (VORU) as Follower Cities develop feasible and realistic demonstration projects towards Positive Energy Blocks.
These will showcase urban, digital, and energy transitions towards climate-friendly and sustainable urban environments, improved quality of life, and greener ESG-compliant business development.
+CityxChange will create solutions for Positive Energy Blocks leading to Positive Energy Districts and Cities through (i) decision support tools, urban planning support, city strategy development, and transforming urban environments, which enable informed decisions to be made by all stakeholders in the community, (ii) an approach to creating a Positive Energy Block through energy reduction and efficiency measures, local renewable, local storage, flexibility and peer-to-peer energy trading and (iii) top-down community engagement driven by the local authority and bottom-up citizen engagement to change people’s mindsets, and develop, inform, include, educate, and drive behavioral change.
The +CityxChange vision is to co-create the future we want to live in. To achieve this, the following framework is being adopted:
(i) Prototype the Future – Integrated Planning and Design
(ii) Enable the Future – Creation of a Common Energy Market
(iii) Accelerate the Future – CommunityxChange
This framework incorporates 11 Demonstration Projects which will be carried out in the Lighthouse Cities and replicated in the Follower Cities.
The 11 Demonstration Projects have the following objectives:
- Collecting data and providing integrated decision support to the cities (DP01, Model)
- Co-creating a Bold City Vision to plan, implement, replicate and scale-up to positive Energy Districts and Cities (DP02, Vision)
- Co-creating Distributed Positive Energy Blocks through citizen participation (DP03, Engage)
- Enabling innovation through regulation mechanisms (DP04, Regulatory Zone);
- Accelerating change and disruptive solutions through innovation playgrounds (DP05, Playground)
- Creating DPEBs through improved energy performance and integration with the energy system (DP06, DPEB)
- Creating the +CityxChange approach to community grids (DP07, Microgrids)
- Integrating seamless eMobility within the DPEB (DP08, eMaaS)
- Enabling local energy trading within the DPEB (DP09, Local Trading)
- Enabling a fair deal to all consumers through a local flexibility market (DP10, Flexibility Market)
- Enabling public and private stakeholders to invest in their buildings (DP11, Sustainable Investments)
These projects encompass the environmental, spatial, social, technical, digital, economic, governance, regulatory and legal aspects required to deliver Positive Energy Blocks/Districts (PEB/D). They enable scale-up and replication of PEB/Ds within and across cities and across the EU.
The project has reached the end year 3,5 with significant progress of the deployment phase and a focus on local deployment, testing, and scaling.
Key results from RP3 include:
Local deployment, testing, scaling of systems, prototypes, processes, and mitigations.
Progress with relevant on-the-ground results and impacts.
Challenges of the pandemic and technical issues led to extensive mitigations & also led to more stress-tested, more future-proof innovative solutions.
PEB development processes have been restructured and larger mitigations undertaken.
The Bold City Vision process is completed in LHCs and in first FCs, leading to good strategic anchoring of project goals and wider systemic challenges, and contributing to long-term sustainability of the project.
The Trondheim energy trading model received regulatory permission and can do actual trading with real prices.
Physical infrastructure & assets are operational in WP5.
Market operation & price model is going live in WP5.
WP4 GKIN turbine is undergoing testing.
The eMaaS system & app are operational and have included mobility options beyond the original plan.
A new energy community concept is being developed as pathway in WP4.
Citizen Observatories & Local innovation labs running.
The LCCC/UL Citizen Lab is running and opened to the public.
LCCC is integrating work towards a new Decarbonisation Zone.
Follower City WP6 PEB feasibility studies are completed, and being linked with finance and project pipelines.
Ongoing alignment of PEB/PED definition with other EU initiatives.
Operational +CityxChange PED definition published.
Significant increase in Replication and spin-off projects.
New ways of working in participating organisations and triggering strategic transformations.
Public Deliverables are published on the project website: https://cityxchange.eu/knowledge-base/
Key results from RP3 include:
Local deployment, testing, scaling of systems, prototypes, processes, and mitigations.
Progress with relevant on-the-ground results and impacts.
Challenges of the pandemic and technical issues led to extensive mitigations & also led to more stress-tested, more future-proof innovative solutions.
PEB development processes have been restructured and larger mitigations undertaken.
The Bold City Vision process is completed in LHCs and in first FCs, leading to good strategic anchoring of project goals and wider systemic challenges, and contributing to long-term sustainability of the project.
The Trondheim energy trading model received regulatory permission and can do actual trading with real prices.
Physical infrastructure & assets are operational in WP5.
Market operation & price model is going live in WP5.
WP4 GKIN turbine is undergoing testing.
The eMaaS system & app are operational and have included mobility options beyond the original plan.
A new energy community concept is being developed as pathway in WP4.
Citizen Observatories & Local innovation labs running.
The LCCC/UL Citizen Lab is running and opened to the public.
LCCC is integrating work towards a new Decarbonisation Zone.
Follower City WP6 PEB feasibility studies are completed, and being linked with finance and project pipelines.
Ongoing alignment of PEB/PED definition with other EU initiatives.
Operational +CityxChange PED definition published.
Significant increase in Replication and spin-off projects.
New ways of working in participating organisations and triggering strategic transformations.
Public Deliverables are published on the project website: https://cityxchange.eu/knowledge-base/
+CityxChange will develop and deploy PEBs/PEDs, contribute to the European Energy Transition, and break it down to the local level. It will enable local stakeholders and citizens to participate in this transition. Societal impact will be achieved through an upgrade of the energy system in a locally adapted way, improving local grids, integrating citizens in the transition, and allowing for the development of livable cities. The project follows an open innovation approach with distributed and loosely coupled solutions to increase collaboration and applicability.
Modeling: +CityxChange will combine existing software platforms, i.e. building simulations, simulation of energy consumption and production for grid infrastructure, mobility patterns and EV charging points and monitoring the ‘soft’ impacts of the citizens. This provides novel decision support for the creation of a PEB.
Energy: The project will exploit PEB-related new market opportunities to determine and plan effective design, upgrades and grid management activities, while encouraging cross network and market inter-connectivity. It will increase competitiveness of industrial partners, while demonstrating societal impacts including the delivery of secure, cleaner energy, while reducing grid infrastructure investment costs.
Investment: Business models for PEBs will enable stakeholders such as public authorities, private investors, home-owners, and local communities, in large-scale PEB projects to develop business models tailored to their local circumstances, and which capture multiple dimensions of value: financial, social, environmental and amenity. The approach has been developed to enable citizens to invest in their own buildings and provides them with the incentives (social, economical, legal and technical) to do so.
CommunityxChange: The +CityxChange process will enable deeper engagement and broad stakeholder involvement. New technologies and digital tools, urban prototyping, and citizen observatories will go hand in hand to ensure an open process around adaptive governance, integrating universities, local authorities, and communities and neighborhoods.
Modeling: +CityxChange will combine existing software platforms, i.e. building simulations, simulation of energy consumption and production for grid infrastructure, mobility patterns and EV charging points and monitoring the ‘soft’ impacts of the citizens. This provides novel decision support for the creation of a PEB.
Energy: The project will exploit PEB-related new market opportunities to determine and plan effective design, upgrades and grid management activities, while encouraging cross network and market inter-connectivity. It will increase competitiveness of industrial partners, while demonstrating societal impacts including the delivery of secure, cleaner energy, while reducing grid infrastructure investment costs.
Investment: Business models for PEBs will enable stakeholders such as public authorities, private investors, home-owners, and local communities, in large-scale PEB projects to develop business models tailored to their local circumstances, and which capture multiple dimensions of value: financial, social, environmental and amenity. The approach has been developed to enable citizens to invest in their own buildings and provides them with the incentives (social, economical, legal and technical) to do so.
CommunityxChange: The +CityxChange process will enable deeper engagement and broad stakeholder involvement. New technologies and digital tools, urban prototyping, and citizen observatories will go hand in hand to ensure an open process around adaptive governance, integrating universities, local authorities, and communities and neighborhoods.