by Rebecca Hueting, dissemination team @ Deep Blue Italy
The European Green Week 2021 walking tours were a success! The main ambition of the three linked events in Jette (BE), Manzaneda (SP) and Kimmeria (GR) was to tangibly demonstrate how the RENAISSANCE approach is promoting ‘zero pollution’. Not only upgrading and optimising the renewable energy assets and storage capacities installed, but also ensuring the direct involvement of the local communities. In total 35 people participated and many of them expressed a vivid enthusiasm both before and during the event. More than 10 individual interviews were recorded and all walking tours will be documented with short videos, soon on this website.
Below a short report of each tour that we hope will encourage your curiosity towards the project approach and towards the Renewable Energy Communities in general!
2nd June 2021 | Jette (Belgium)
The first pilot site tour took place in Jette. The 9 participants ranging from Academia to local energy stakeholders and ESG members met at the Green Energy Park. From there they walked towards the Brussels Health Campus and the student dormitories.
The project coordinator, Prof. Thierry Coosemans provided general inormation about the pilot and the amount of renewable energy produced to cover the consumption needs of the facilities. Thanks to our chaperon Jimmy Van Moer, the Health Campus’ energy manager, participants had the chance to see the cabinets where the energy load is managed, stored and monitored.
On the way back, the group stopped in front of the student housing area, where Shary Heuninckx explained how smart meters were installed in the dorms and their importance for the data collection. As main promoter and campaigner for the project’s spin-off Enerjettic, Shary also mentioned how students will be involved in responsible behaviour challenges in the next months and how important it is to let the youngest generations realise the importance of such common effort towards the energy transition.
8th June 2021 | Manzaneda (Spain)
The second pilot site tour took place in the wonderful galician mountains, where the Manzaneda Ski-Resort installed solar panels and e-mobility charging points. The pilot site tour began on the sunny morning of the 8th of June 2021 and the group counted 9 participants. The event was a chance for the Manzaneda ski resort manager, two local administration representatives, two local DSO representatives and one member of a newly established energy community in Vega de Valcarce to meet again and understand tangibly how the local energy network is working. Miguel Fontela Martinez recurred with the whole group the different implementation phases and focused on the integration of all harware and software solutions with the RENAISSANCE platform. The Ski-Resort manager Albert Montaner and the DSO recalled how the MAMCA process helped in defining the details of the local energy community. Finally the Tourism officer from Diputaciòn de Ourense explained how they will promote Manzaneda Ski Resort as a summer vacation spot, where the people can not only enjoy nature and healthy outdoor activities, but also participate to the transition with a zero-impact holiday. The season opening started officially on the 12th of June and we hope Manzaneda could be the place where more and more people in Europe will understand the value of responsible tourism. Que les vaya bien!
11th June 2021 | Kimmeria (Greece)
The third and final pilot site tour was organised in the Duth University student campus in Kimmeria, near Xanthi. More than 40 students registered for the event, but due to Covid-19 restrictions we could only accomodate a total of 17 participants. Not only Duth students joined the tour, but also one local energy industry representative, a member of the CERTH team working on the RENAISSANCE platform development and two Duth representatives for the dissemination and communication of research projects. To begin with, PhD researcher Adamantios Papatsounis introduced the group to the site energy layout and displayed an interactive map of installed assets and metering sensors. Soon after prof. Pantelis Botsaris, the pilot site leader, took over and explained one by one how all the production and storage capacities are integrated and able to provide most energy consumed on site. With the support of Kostantinos Lymperopoulos, Duth’s smart grid expert, questions about energy storage and multi-vector integration were answered. On the official DUTH University website the latest updates from RENAISSANCE project are published.
If you participated in our of the walking tours please submit your answer to the feedback survey:
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