To become model islands for climate-neutral mobility, it is planned to establish a groundbreaking decarbonized system powered by RES, primarily PVs (integrated and non-integrated). By establishing a two-way flow of energy and data, electrical vehicles (EVs) will support the operation of a Smart grid with a high share of RES in real-time, resulting in a synergy between the transport and energy systems. With the gradual introduction of EVs, the development of a dense public and private charging network, new mobility services such as a multimodal vehicle sharing system, and energy-efficient public transport will help reduce energy consumption and emissions, optimise traffic and alleviate congestion. Their active participation in the energy transition will be encouraged by establishing domestic microgrids, with integrated PVs, EVs, and energy storage systems. The beneficiaries will be, the towns of Krk, Mali Losinj, and Cres; on the island of Krk, the Municipality of Malinska-Dubasnica and the towns of Baska; Dobrinj; Omišalj; Punat and Vrbnik.
Geothermal energy utilization in the city of Karlovac, including borehole drilling, heat storage tank construction, transceiver station construction, accession pipeline construction, pump room/station construction, improving eco package of the current boiler (58MW), construction of a solar power plant, refurbishment of the existing district heating system and plant operation and maintenance.
The investment concept will be developed around the following measures (non-exhaustive list) in the different municipalities on the Croatian island of Korčula:
1. Replacement of existing lighting fixtures with more energy efficient light bulbs, 2. Installation of solar thermal collectors 3. Reconstruction of the boiler room and transition to bio-mass or switch to high-efficiency heat pumps, 4. Replacement of exterior carpentry of the building 5. Reactive power compensators 6. Introduction of photovoltaic systems on households roofs 7. Installation of a photovoltaic power plant of at least 50 kW.
In addition, there will be mobility measures such as building new bike paths and promoting cycling; the introduction of 10% biofuels in transport, car-sharing between city residents, and the electrification of public and maritime transport. The grouping applied consists of the following cities and municipalities: the City of Korčula, Municipalities of Vela Luka, Blato, Smokvica and Lumbarda.
The innovative transport system, in interaction with internal subsystems and connections to the wider area, will enable a paradigm shift in mobility from ownership to a sharing economy rather than mere electrification. There will be a technology showcase space in a multi-modal green hub, electric vehicles fleets as smart charging mobile storage to support RES penetration, efficient on-demand public transport complementary to sharing systems to optimise resources, park & ride services, zero-emission last mile solutions, etc. All of this will result in energy optimization, emission reduction, reducing traffic congestion and financial savings. Innovative infrastructure in private and public locations will be a focal point for the synergy between the transport and energy systems, enabling the operation of the Microgrids and Smart Grid.
This IC will target the systematic implementation of 0-energy concepts through the district level DER and consumption of renewable energy. District scale energy renovation approach will be tested in order to speed-up the renovation works and it will be combined with the geothermal-based (GB) supply to the climate friendly neighborhoods (CFNs). The latter will serve as a test bed for planning the city’s district heating network. To lower the operating costs for public buildings and to mobilise the private investments for energy renovation in the building sector, the city decided to roll out the large-scale DER works in the three significant zones (1st – public and multifamily buildings, 2nd – public buildings, 3rd – university campus) with the aim to turn them into CFNs (0 – emission zones) by employing the mini GB heat plants for supplying these zones. Preliminarily analysis of geothermal potential has been performed but the technical analysis and feasibility study is to be done in this IC
As there is no public transport in the area, the city is working hard to develop its transport in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. They began working their Sustainable Mobility Plan which includes a study on public transport demand, a proposal for optimal transportation paths, and EV and H2 charging station forecasting. The first phase of the project includes the installation of a 7 MW solar power plant (via crowdfunding) and the EV and H2 charging stations. These charging stations will primarily be used to charge vehicles for the future public transport system. As the solar power plant will be located in a large area near a highway and an international railroad (connecting the Adriatic coast and Eastern Europe), a multimodal passenger and freight terminal will be built there (phase two). It will include a variety of creative digital technologies as well as car and bike-sharing services to minimise traffic congestion, air pollution, and fossil fuel demand in the city centre.
The area is on the verge of becoming an attractive year-round tourist destination. In order to preserve natural resources, it is necessary to establish an innovative transport system. In addition to decarbonization itself, the paradigm changes to a sharing economy. Electrical Vehicles as mobile batteries with smart charging from local RES, a sharing system and an efficient on-demand mobility system, park&ride and the net-zero CO2 last mile concepts contribute to optimizing resources, saving energy and emissions, reducing congestion and financial benefits. Being a regional link between the mountainous and coastal parts of the County and is close to a zone with numerous shopping centers, the innovative public and private infrastructure should be complementary, to create energy and transport sectors synergy. For the successful implementation of IC, the active participation of end users, who are placed at the center of the energy transition with a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability, is crucial.
The EUCF grant will allow the development of an Investment concept to prepare the project on the transport sector decarbonisation of the Midwest Istria subregion, in order to achieve its 2030 decarbonisation goals of the transport sector.
The project will map public buildings and abandoned landfills and analyse their PV/hydrogen potential; map and analyse existing solutions and assess the development potential of future Poreč - Pazin mobility solutions (public transport development, micromobility concept, sharing systems, private investments). It will also develop an innovative investment concept for public and private investment/public-private partnerships. The approach will foster an open, transparent relation with stakeholders and the public.
With a larger accent on e-mobility, this project is heading closer to sustainable and more efficient transport. Urban mobility measures which are planned for analysis in the Integrated urban mobility plan for all three municipalities will be detailed in continuation.
A public bus line will be introduced to cover the Pregrada-Zabok route, with electric buses and the introduction of special transport for people with special needs and people with disabilities. Bicycle routes will be constructed, together with pedestrian paths and interventions in road infrastructure to address critical points in traffic. There will be an implementation of the Park & Ride and Bike & Ride systems, a Bike Share system, and also the infrastructure for charging electric passenger cars at multiple locations. Finally, there will be the implementation of the Car Share system and the development of a traffic tracking application for web and mobile devices, synchronization of transport systems and implementation and integration of info points with timetables and other information.
The investment concept includes various technological solutions for environmental protection, energy and mobility such as production of biogas from municipal bio-waste, design and construction of plant with UHTH technology for production of synthetic gas from the waste material, public lighting, electrical mobility and on-site production of hydrogen from excess renewable electricity sources (“green hydrogen”).
The main measure is integrating low-temperature district heating (DH) system (4th Generation) in the city. The measure will contribute significantly to the efficient use of energy resources and better integration of renewable energy and surplus heat into the existing district heating system.
It includes the modernisation and optimisation of the existing system. There is also the introduction of renewable energy sources (geothermal heat plant, large-scale heat pumps, solar thermal) and surplus heat (industrial waste heat). ICT will be used for optimum integration of energy sources, a high-efficiency operation of the system and communication with the consumers. A new decarbonised and optimised DH system will be integrated with other parts of the energy systems and will use heat from different sources and combine them into a smart thermal grid.
The technology measures include a deep renovation of almost 1000 houses and three public buildings in order to reach nZEB or positive energy building standard, containing buildings envelope, new doors, windows and in-house heating and cooling installations. A 1.8 MW PV installation, a new district heating system with a 4 MW heating plant along with 1.5 km heating interconnection with an industrial facility and a 5.5 MW biomass heating plant are planned. Moreover, installation of district heating pipes and substations is considered. All public lighting will be changed to new LED.
Considering the fact that buildings are responsible for 40 % of global energy consumption and 33 % of GHG emissions, city is planning a major green renovation wave focusing on a building sector (swimming arena, sports hall, school buildings; multifamily apartment blocks and social housing buildings). District scale energy renovation approach will be tested in order to speed-up the renovation works and to lower the costs (joint green procurement). Moreover, in the light of a recent events on an energy market, together with the energy renovation wave strategy, city is decisive to develop plans for preparing the infrastructure for DHN employing renewables-based CHP plants. Pilot project will be prepared with the existing biomass-based CHP plant which should cover the heat needs of several public buildings and multifamily apartment blocks which will be renovated. Along with that, an innovative buildings “heat sharing network” will be tested in the self-sustained renovated building blocks.
The Investment Concept will demonstrate how 0-energy neighborhoods concept and smart grid-interactive technologies can transform homes and public buildings into connected self-sufficient energy communities. The project will put the spotlight on neighborhood level green renovation of public and multifamily buildings including the RES deployment (heat pumps and PVs in public and PVs only in multifamily buildings) and “demand response” testing to round up the sustainability story. Besides, in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in buildings sector and to encourage shared production/consumption from renewables as well as prosumer behavior promoting responsible energy citizenship, CoVT will test the smart microgrid concept in the 0-energy renovated neighborhoods by forming the connected self-sufficient energy communities. This FIT4 55 community partnership between public authorities and citizens will be formed around shared goals and values in order to jointly lead the way to the sustainable city.
The city performed an analysis of geothermal potential based on four existing testing boreholes to depths from 203 m to 1584 m. The water temperature is 70°C at the depth of 1500m while according to the study there could be even higher temperatures in the Southwest parts of the city, up to 140 C° at the depths of 2000-3000 m. Two boreholes production and injection with estimated capacity of 25 GWh will be installed on the land owned by the city of Vrbovec. To make maximal use of available heat it will be used in cascade. Water with higher temperatures will go to industry, lower temperatures water will be utilised in the buildings and agriculture. To have low temperature heating buildings should be renovated to nZEB standard and should be equipped with district heating substations and additional PVs for electricity generation. Special heat exchange network will supply industrial and agriculture objects. The 4DH pipelines will connect different buildings/neighbourhoods.