Global District Energy Climate Awards revealed

  • Euroheat & Power News
  • 24 October 2017

The 2017 Global District Energy Climate Awards were revealed on 24 October 2017, during the International District Cooling and Heating Conference in Qatar. The finalists were selected from cities and communities across the globe which demonstrate local district energy leadership in providing clean and sustainable energy solutions.

 

 

Launched in 2009 by Euroheat & Power together with the International Energy Agency and the International District Energy Association, the Global District Energy Climate Awards aim to generate broader awareness, greater adoption and strengthen the importance of district energy and the movement towards clean, sustainable energy solutions.

 

During the Awards Ceremony, keynote speaker Jean Dulac of the International Energy Agency underlined the importance of district energy for the success of the energy transition and fight against climate change in which cities have a vital role to play. Celia Martinez highlighted the District Energy in Cities Initiative of UN Environment. Robin Wiltshire, Chairman of the Evaluation Panel, announced and congratulated the winners. Participants were honoured by the presence of three distinguished guests, Their Excellencies Mrs. Ewa Polano, Ambassador of Sweden to Qatar, Mr. Ignacio Escobar, Ambassador of Spain to Qatar, and Mr. Michele Cervone d’Urso, Head of the European Union Delegation to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

 

And the winners are…

 

Emerging market – category highlighting the successful implementation of a district energy system in a country that does not yet have an established market: Torrelago District Heating | Laguna de Duero, Spain. A complete retrofitting of the Torrelago district in Laguna de Duero, Valladolid (Spain) combined the buildings’ façade renovation with an upgrade of the district heating system which now integrates renewable energy and smart control solutions. This integrated demand and supply approach leads to 50% energy savings in the district.

 

“Torrelago’s district heating is integrated in the CITyFiED project, a smart city demonstration project supported by the European Commission and includes building retrofitting, district heating renovation and home energy management system. At the district heating level, a new buried biomass boiler room was built, substations were renovated, variable flow pumps were installed and all the devices were connected to an overall energy management system supervised by HUBGRADE. The system saves 3,392 tons of CO₂ per year.”

Javier MartĂ­n Sanz, Technical Manager, Veolia Spain

 

Expansion – category awarding the district energy system that expanded to a new area or sector with excellence, delivering significant benefits to stakeholders: Tartu DHC System | Tartu, Estonia. During its continuous evolution, the system has integrated renewable energy and smart meters, welcomed new customers and developed the first district cooling network in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.

 

“We are really pleased and honoured to get the Award of Excellence in the category Expansion. This is a remarkable recognition to our brilliant colleagues, loyal customers and supportive city municipality. Great things happen always in cooperation towards common goal. Our goal has been “For a cleaner Tartu”. Over the years Tartu DHC system has undergone several changes and technology upgrades, becoming from Soviet time district heating network to well-functioning,  sustainable, clean and efficient DHC system. This Award shows that our efforts have gone to the right place and we will continue to make Tartu DHC system even better.”

Margo KĂźlaots, Head of DHC Estonia Fortum, Chairman of the Board Fortum Tartu

 

Modernisation – category recognising the district energy system that had the most positive impact in terms of effectiveness and efficiency after implementing technical, managerial, or operational modernisation aspects: ‘Salaspils Siltums’ | Salaspils, Latvia. Since 2010, the district heating company serving households, municipal institutions and business customers in the cities of Salaspils and Saulkalne has improved energy efficiency, diversified its fuel sources and introduced automatic control and remote data reading systems.

 

“Think about the future by taking actions now! For the past six years “Salaspils Siltums” has been implementing progressive environmental policies to ensure that all processes are sustainable and environmentally friendly. The company is continuously working towards becoming more sustainable in order to have a minimal negative impact on the local environment.

Ina Bērziņa-Veita, Member of the Board of “Salaspils Siltums”

 

 

New scheme – category awarding the vision of a new, highly energy-efficient district energy system: Lusail City District Cooling | Lusail City, Qatar. On the way to becoming one of the largest in the world, the Lusail City district cooling system envisions four district cooling plants, built in multiple phases to provide the entire development with chilled water for its cooling needs. Compared to conventional cooling approaches, district cooling will save 35% to 45% energy, and with less power being consumed, fewer pollutants will be emitted.

 

“Being part of a huge project that will supply chilled water to Lusail City through an integrated network with a connected cooling load exceeding 500,000 tons of refrigeration (TR) by using multiple chiller plants with total capacity of approximately 336,000 TR, is as an amazing opportunity for everyone who works at Marafeq Qatar. We will be working in parallel with Qatar’s Vision 2030 for sustainability, hence receiving this award conveys the hard work time, and effort that was spent by everyone at Marafeq Qatar to achieve this project.” 

Abobaker Al Hadrami,  Operation & Maintenance Director, Marafeq Qatar   

 

“Out of the box” – category recognising significant innovation in district energy: District Heating to Ships | Gothenburg, Sweden.  Through a ground-breaking demonstration project, the Stena Line-owned passenger ship Stena Danica is now connected to the local district heating grid when it arrives to port in Gothenburg instead of being heated by the light oil-fired boilers previously used. It is a new application for district heating, reducing the ship’s CO2 emissions by as much as 60%, SOx and NOx emissions by more than 90%, as well as significantly reducing noise levels in the neighbourhood.

 

“Receiving the 5th Global District Energy Climate Award is a great honour and a confirmation. Seeing a ship connected to the district heating network is proof of how we can create the environmentally friendly shipping of the future, by combining logistics, industry and housing in central locations. Using these synergies means building the modern community of sustainable Gothenburg and we strive to have blackbelts in district heating!” 

 Jonas Cognell, Senior Program Manager, GÜteborg Energi   

 

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More information and photos from the European Awards Ceremony will be available shortly on www.districtenergyaward.org.

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