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In the Spotlight: Värmdö and San Sebastian

Question & Answers with Megha Huber and Euken Sesé

Interview with Megha Huber, Sustainable Development Coordinator Värmdö Municipality 

Why did Värmdö choose to participate in the CITyFiED project, and how does it fit in with your energy and environment strategy? 
We are keen to join initiatives clearly outlining the benefits, solutions and strategies of achieving an energy efficient system. Värmdö wants to reduce greenhouse emissions and reduce our dependence on oil. At the same time, we need to seek the right technical accompaniment to minimize risks and manage our costs in achieving this transition.

What smart city measure or energy solution would you like to share with the CITyFiED community? 
Hopefully there are plenty of stories and solutions to share with our project partners over the life of the project. I could mention is that we are proud of our use of renewables – notably wind power – to generate electricity or switching to Swedish produced rape seed oil for heating purposed. However, the main issue on the table for us now is planning our switch to either district or geothermal heating.

Name a challenge you think fellow cities and project consortium members could help you overcome…
Our long-term objective is to become climate neutral, and although we have come a long way, we need to have as many tangible ideas and proven solutions as possible to get there. So, fellow project members can help us benchmark current initiatives, improve existing performance and help us discover new solutions!

Värmdö’s most ambitious energy efficiency target? 
In Värmdö we have a strong political desire to have eliminated oil consumption and increased our share of renewables to 50% by 2030. No less ambitious is our long-term vision to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 

 

Interview with Euken Sesé, General Manager, Fomento San Sebastian 

Why did San Sebastian choose to participate in the CITyFiED project, and how does it fit in with your energy and environment strategy?
San Sebastian is actively working in renewable energy projects and smart city activities across the city, developing our energy and smart city plans. San Sebastian chose to participate in the CITyFiED project to be able to learn new experiences and successful developments in refurbishment and district heating management systems and business models.

What smart city measure or energy solution would you like to share with the CITyFiED community?
In the framework of the STEEP Project, San Sebastian is developing an energy master plan using the ‘Systems Thinking for Efficient Energy Planning’ methodology, taking into account all the key actors in the value chain of the energy and environmental sectors. This methodology can be very helpful to develop a Smart City or energy master plan and we are happy to share our experiences.

Name a challenge you think fellow cities and project consortium members could help you overcome…
We are interested to learn and exchange more in the fields of business models and management systems of district heating installations.

San Sebastian's most ambitious energy efficiency target?
San Sebastian is working within the Covenant of Mayors and the ambitious energy efficiency targets set by the “20-20-20” program - 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels; raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 20%; a 20% improvement in energy efficiency across the EU.