SmartEnCity Coronación, emblematic project of the PCTI Euskadi 2020

SmartEnCity Coronación, emblematic project of the PCTI Euskadi 2020

Vitoria-Gasteiz participates in the European project SmartEnCity, which aims to develop the European strategy for the creation of CO2-free smart cities.

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The SmartEnCity Coronación project aims to be a benchmark action on the road to converting Vitoria-Gasteiz into a greener, carbon-neutral city that enhances the local resources and economy.

The project, promoted by the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Basque Government, and involving Mondragon Unibertsitatea and MONDRAGON Corporation, started in 2016 and will be run until mid-2021. It is a great opportunity to improve the quality of life of the residents of Coronación, as it entails the energy rehabilitation of 1,313 homes to make them more comfortable, as well as the renovation of streets and squares, which will make the neighbourhood more attractive.

Mondragon Unibertsitatea and MONDRAGON Corporation have been responsible for designing and launching the global ICT platform that will be responsible, for a period of four years, for collecting a series of data and values of the cities involved in the SmartEnCity project on aspects such as energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

The platform designed and implemented by Mondragon Unibertsitatea and MONDRAGON Corporation will have a Web-based operation to make it as standardised and inter-operable as possible. The idea is that this platform can be replicated by other cities that participate in the project as followers.

All information collected in each of the three "lighthouse cities" will be sent in a segmented manner or in an aggregated way to the platform. In addition to collecting data, the platform will process the information collected to provide consumption information to users, as well as analysing consumption patterns to provide recommendations that reduce consumption and CO2 emissions, in addition to delivering information on sustainable mobility.

Specifically, the values included in the platform are the consumption of home appliances and the comfort temperature of homes. It does not consist solely of the submission of data, but also includes a direct communication channel between the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the neighbourhood, in order to enable information on the session without intermediaries.

Project characteristics

This is a project to regenerate neighbourhood, consisting of three main areas:

1. Energy rehabilitation of the façade and the roof of the neighbourhood buildings.
2. The installation of a central heating and hot water system powered by firewood.
3. The renovation of the public space (renovation of streets and squares, paving, banks, gardening, etc.).

The planned actions will ensure the following:

• Reducing the energy demand of the neighbourhood and the use of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels.
• Improving the habitability of homes and their comfort conditions.
• Providing savings in heating and hot water bills.
• Integrating the participation of neighbours in the definition of the project.

Overall budget

The total budget of the project, which, alongside Vitoria-Gasteiz, had the participation of the cities of Tartu (Estonia) and Sondeborg (Denmark), is €75,565,000, which is covered at a rate of about 37% (€27,890,136) by the European Commission's subsidy. In the case of Vitoria-Gasteiz, a total of €29,566,798 were provided, of which the grant covers €10,879,960. Considering the various existing items, covered by the European subsidy, it is possible to rehabilitate a maximum of 750 homes and to build a heat network. The Basque Government, through Visesa, and the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz will complement the subsidy so that 1,313 homes can be energetically rehabilitated.