- Probono Project: The session, within the framework of this European project, focused on analyzing the benefits of district networks and energy communities in new urban developments.
ACCIONA organized the “Probono Energy Community Policy” workshop in its facilities, as part of the European Probono project, coordinated by its Engineering area together with Crea Madrid Nuevo Norte.
The workshop focused on the analysis of critical aspects of EU policies and legislation, green financing and dissemination of information related to Spain on district heating networks and renewable energy communities. Specific topics such as district heating and cooling systems with renewable energy, especially geothermal energy, energy communities and net-zero development and their relationship with neighborhoods and districts were also addressed.
The event was attended by senior managers and officials from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Autonomous Community of Madrid, the Madrid City Council and other key public and private organizations (IDEA, ADHAC, Madrid Subterra, AFCE, IDOM or IGB).
The workshop brought together experts from the energy sector, relevant players from national, regional and local administrations, as well as urban developers to identify - in five working groups - the opportunities that Renewable District Networks and Renewable Energy Communities offer in new urban developments, as well as the main barriers and possible solutions for their implementation. Participants agreed and identified the benefits and/or lost opportunities of not implementing the challenges raised, the barriers to their implementation and possible solutions.
The results obtained during the day will serve as a basis for the next debates that will be organized in the following phases of the development of the pilot project in Madrid Nuevo Norte. They will also be an important contribution to the implementation of a Green Paper by the European Commission, which will analyze the scalability and transferability of the results to a wider public.
In November, the Probono project also held a co-creation workshop on sustainable urban infrastructures, with the participation of representatives of neighborhood associations and shopkeepers from Las Tablas, as well as private individuals.
In this context, a survey was distributed to find out what the citizens of Madrid think about municipal infrastructures and what they consider most important for the development of a sustainable neighborhood.
PROBONO PROJECT
ACCIONA, through its Engineering division, is leading the PROBONO project, part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program. With a budget of 20 million euros, it is one of the most ambitious innovative projects for decarbonization and sustainability in European cities, fully in line with the European Green Deal. With a duration of five years, it is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
To test the feasibility of the PROBONO project, six European demonstrators have been selected where Green Building Neighborhoods (GBN) are being explored. To this end, construction and/or renovation activities will be implemented in these demonstrators.
The six chosen districts, called Living LABs, are located in Madrid, Dublin, Porto, Brussels, Aarhus and Prague. They will be transformed into energy-positive, zero-carbon districts. In Madrid, the pilot project is located in Madrid Nuevo Norte, the most significant regeneration project underway in Europe. It will implement district heating and cooling networks based on renewable energies, with small urban facilities that take advantage of the coexistence of residential and tertiary buildings for the purpose.
In addition, as part of the proposal presented by ACCIONA and its partners, the project includes the design and construction of a pilot (30,000m2) of what will be the future energy system of Madrid Nuevo Norte, using District Heating technologies based on geothermal energy and other technologies based on circular economy and renewable energies. All these technologies will be controlled and managed under a digital model that will allow for maximum performance, stakeholder engagement, scaling and replication.
This project aims to demonstrate on a European scale how a successful and prosperous transition to carbon neutrality can be achieved through technological innovation and creative thinking.
To learn more about the project, visit the official Probono website at: https://www.probonoh2020.eu/ and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/probonoh2020/
If you are interested in providing feedback on sustainable energy communities, we encourage you to complete this survey: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/26b5e1b0f52e48b0bff21ba368756b4a