POCITYF strategy is built around four multidisciplinary and complementary Energy Transition Tracks (ETT). The term Transition Track is used to group interdisciplinary and complementary Integrated Solutions (IS) in terms of the need they address. The IS are built on top of both mature and innovative technologies. The ambition is to make Europe the leading continent in the realization of a self-sustainable, environmental-friendly and citizen-centred living environment in urban districts.
Positive Energy Buildings & Districts
These solutions focus on:
- achieving significant energy savings on both building and district level reducing energy bills for citizens
- enabling a high share of locally produced/consumed renewable energy at building and district level
Solutions will be demonstrated and replicated in all participating cities and include positive energy retrofits both at building and district level, with the integration of the principles of circular economy.
Read more about the solutions from ETT#1 developed in Evora in these factsheets and in Alkmaar at this link.
Positive Energy (stand-alone) Buildings
POCITYF will demonstrate different technologies at building level, capable of producing excess amounts of energy for heating and cooling along with electricity, which can be redistributed to the interconnected networks. Buildings with these features are called Positive Energy Buildings.
Positive Energy Districts retrofitting
The focus of this solution is to enable the deployment of Positive Energy Districts, by reducing energy consumption and increasing renewable production, underpinned by advanced ICT solutions that will foster flexibility enablement and activation and efficient energy flows between buildings and the upper stream distribution network. The use of grid-connected energy storage solutions will also contribute for the positive performance of the selected sites. The primary goal of this solution, is to escalate the solutions offered at building level to district level.
Feeding PEDs with waste streams promoting symbiosis and circular economy
POCITYF considers the utilization of waste streams (heat and material) as an alternative highly efficient pathway for satisfying energy needs and reducing waste, in line with EU policies regarding the promotion of industrial symbiosis and circular economy. This solution strengthens the potential success of PEDs deployment.
P2P energy storage and management
These solutions focus on:
- maximizing self-consumption
- reducing grid stress and avoid load and generation curtailment
- increasing the financial value through flexibility services to the grid
Read more about the solutions from ETT#2 developed in Evora in these factsheets and in Alkmaar at this link.
Flexible and sustainable electricity grid networks with innovative storage solutions
As the share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) will increase in the coming decades, the generation of energy will change drastically towards decentralized generation mostly by local household and block/district level RES systems operating in the level of micro-grids. Due to the intermittent nature of RES, grid stress is a challenge. Therefore, there is a need for more flexibility in the energy system and decreasing curtailment. POCITYF will demonstrate innovative storage and grid flexibility solutions that understand and allow the effective management of the core issues of interwoven and interdependent energy sub-networks and sub-systems of sustainable district/city smart grid environments.
Flexible and sustainable district heating/cooling with innovative heat storage solutions
POCITYF will demonstrate and replicate solutions that are able to advance the flexibility and environmental sustainability of district heating networks through the utilization of innovative technologies and the exploitation of waste heat and geothermy.
E-mobility integration into smart grid
Solutions included in ETT#3 focus on:
- reducing the impact of electro-mobility on the energy system
- increasing the penetration of electric vehicles utilizing renewable energy sources (RES) using them to support grid flexibility, while reducing curtailment
- promoting decarbonisation of mobility sector (with the adoption of EVs)
- reducing citizen’s mobility costs
Read more about the solutions from ETT#3 developed in Evora in these factsheets and in Alkmaar at this link.
Smart V2G EVs charging
POCITYF will demonstrate Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and smart solar power-driven charging stations in order to support the demand-supply energy management at district level, while increasing their large-scale energy storage capacity and promotion of more environmentally friendly mobility solutions. Benefits for citizens include lower energy bills, higher comfort and a more livable districts, as well as affordable e-mobility thanks to this solution.
E-mobility services for citizens and auxiliary EV technologies
POCITYF will integrate V2G EVs, operated in an e-car sharing system, within the urban mobility system. On top of that POCITYF will demonstrate innovative EV and hydrogen related technologies that can further promote cleaner mobility, while reducing impact on the local energy system and RES local production.
Citizen driven co-creation
These solutions focus on improving citizens’ quality of life and on involving citizens in the development, design and evaluation phases of the solutions, and related services, implemented by POCITYF. This will be done following a “Rapid Prototyping” approach, a process that allows to have a a simultaneous and almost real-time feedback by citizens; thus ensuring a constant improvement of the solutions and services provided to them. Such an approach will be implemented in activities that:
- incentives citizens for co-creating, co-delivering and co-capturing value by the smart city solutions demonstrated
- create an open innovation ecosystem between different experimentation set-ups
- empower consumers to become ‘prosumers’ by enabling them to monetise their excess of electricity (generated by rooftop solar for example) by securely recording data and sending and receiving payments automatically
Read more about the solutions from ETT#4 developed in Evora in these factsheets and in Alkmaar at this link.
Social innovation mechanisms towards citizens engagement
The energy transition to positive buildings, districts and communities will be pursued through a close relationship with citizens, encompassing a bottom-up approach, in which co-creation, co-development and co-implementation processes play a central role. Innovative social engagement strategies will be designed to boost and motivate the citizens to participate and create solutions along with the industry and policy makers. A focus on disadvantaged communities will be given, in order to provide inclusive technology capable of improving local life conditions, while promoting sustainable tourism.
Open innovation for policy makers and managers
Policy makers and local government managers fulfil a crucial role in the energy and circular transition of cities and their residential, commercial and industrial zones. They have the unique position, in the beginning of a change process like in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, to bring the transition actors together. Within the Quadruple Helix –the industry-government-knowledge institutes-public relations and actors interact- in a region or city and contribute to the required change process.
Interoperable, modular and interconnected city ecosystem
This solution will cover not only the monitoring needs of the demonstration areas at building and district-level, but also pave the way for the transition to an interconnected ecosystem that will underpin the effectiveness of the three previous transition tracks. At the same time, it will enable the conception of new solutions based on the data that will be retrieved and centralized at a city-level platform.
