The following information has been gathered as part of the CONCERTO Premium policy research.
Benefits of CONCERTO:
Key benefits:
- Approximately energy saving: 25% reduction in conventional energy consumption. Approx. energy from RES: 20%.
- The tariff studies ended by an innovative tariff system implemented
- The project generated know-how concerning the use of hydrothermal network. At a technical level, monitoring has shown that the project objectives have been achieved.
Skill development:
There were 3 training activities:
- training regarding district heating in urban
- know-how concerning the use of hydrothermal network implemented within the project which has been passed on to 10 people
- lectures for students.
Local economic effects:
Two new positions of employment were created within the TetraEner project.
Barriers encountered:
Administrative barriers:
Reporting demands from the EC were seen to be very labor intensive and time consuming. Spanish partner and coordinator San Sebastian dropped out, as their projects were not eligible any more. There was very little contact with the observer communities. The methodology part of the project was run in parallel with actual planning and implementation, rather than preceding it.
Technical barriers:
Energy from Lake Geneva had initially been intended to be used for heating, not just cooling. This was not found to be economically viable by the local energy company. Therefore, the lake was only being used for cooling.
Social barriers:
Resistance and fear to changes. Communicating with owners and technical staff of the buildings concerned was one of the main challenges, as conservative options prevailed and there were worries about the costs involved. Therefore, the quality of information and a general need to communicate was important. Need to have some "lever" actors (e.g. one important consumer, such as UNO) and some federative elements.
Success factors identified:
Technical Success Factors:
The CONCERTO project in Geneva developed a simulation model called ENERGIS that evaluates energy needs in a district on the basis of a statistical analysis that uses statistical energy values or real energy data if existing, relying on several characteristics of the buildings (age, structure, occupancy) that are inside a districts.
Social Success factors:
Quality of information and general need to communicate (first to convince the future customer to "enter" the project, then to enhance user's behavior), the need to have some "lever" actors and some federative elements. Also, communication campaigns and training activity have been determinant for considering Lake Geneva as a natural resource for city’s sustainable development.
Institutional success factors:
Architect and Engineers have to work together from the outset since they have to provide an energy concept before receiving the building permit. These include the obligation, for large energy consumer projects to submit an energy concept that should be approved by the cantonal energy service. Possible synergies with other buildings in the neighborhood can then be more easily identified and exploited. Furthermore, large existing buildings with high energy consumption were obliged to report to the authorities annually, providing an energy performance index that enabled the detection of any deviation from plan. Geneva's Canton also provided financial tools to develop the implementation of sustainable energy systems, such as a guarantee fund in order to facilitate the realization of “risky” projects.
The presence of the Geneva Energy Department “SCANE” as coordinator of the CONCERTO project, with a strong involvement & support was determinant for speeding up administrative procedures and involving the private sector by taking all the financial risk.
Economic success factors:
- Importance of economic aspects (green solutions are not sustainable if not economically efficient)
- The rather innovative instrument/procedure, called the “district energy concept”, facilitated the process by grouping architects, engineers and policy makers before the planning phase, identifying the key questions and possible barriers, and generating useful technical information for the following land planning procedure
- Public-private partnerships and a risk guarantee fund offered by the canton
Other:
Geneva Cantonal energy policy was considered to be a real driver for the uptake of the CONCERTO project. It was formalized in two documents, the “Conception générale de l’énergie” - general energy concept - which defined the objectives, the energy targets and is the guideline for the whole energy policy in Geneva, and the “Plan directeur cantonal de l’énergie” - energy plan for the Canton- which was the operative part of the CGE. The State Council adopted the Energy Plan Scheme for the canton, Geneva 2010-2015 (Plan Directeur cantonal de l’énergie), which describes the measures to be used in order to reach the first step toward the 2000 Watt society without nuclear.
Business models used:
Municipal utility companies were covered by the public sector of energy supply companies. They were present in Geneva. The local utility company in Geneva was a key project partner. This enabled necessary investment in parts of the energy system infrastructure. There was also a financial tool, the risk guarantee fund offered by the canton that enabled the local utility provider (main demonstration actor) to invest in infrastructures when the guarantee of success was not really clear.
A SWOT analysis was carried out to find the most suitable business form. At the end of this process, the so called “Sole Partnership” was chosen for various reasons. This option implied that the whole project was under the control of the Geneva’s Industrial Utilities (SIG), a 100% public owned utility. During the construction phase, it has been opted for an outsourcing solution (e.g. installation and maintenance) while the operation of the plant was in the sole responsibility of SIG. This solution has been chosen for various reasons. One of them being that SIG is a public company and therefore financial risk is guaranteed by the state. It was possible to implement this solution without major legal or regulatory problems and also financing could be solved through this public-private partnership model. Additionally, studies have been undertaken to find an appropriate and innovative tariff system and steer rational energy consumption behavior. Attractive tariff systems coupled with information, involvement and training of potential customers were determinant for success and the network presently has used all available cooling potential. Other communities showed interest in the technology, organizational and financial solutions
Legacy – follow-on projects:
The project has had a certain "impact" as at least two similar projects were initiated on lake Geneva and because many people from various European countries asked for information – one is called GENILAC.
Legacy - Policy Developments:
The experience of CONCERTO was, together with other exemplary projects, a source of inspiration for the new energy law. Geneva Canton transposed some successful CONCERTO results into regional ordinances with massive replication effects.
A new law definition of territorial energy concept outlines containes following statements (consequence of CONCERTO demonstration experience articles 6-12).