Viladecans

Energy Transition

Vilawatt - Innovative local public-private-citizen partnership for energy governance

"We strongly believe in this project, because one of the most important challenges that cities have to face is the improvement of the quality of life. The objective is multiple and really ambitious: to reduce the energy bill, to reverse the gains of this decrease in improving the housing, and to boost the local economy among the people who are associated with the project. In addition, we want to promote among citizens the culture of energy saving, by providing them with tools to make this possible, and develop a local platform to integrate all local efforts in the way of energy transition”

Carles Ruiz, Mayor of Viladecans
The project in numbers
17%
of homes are suffering from fuel poverty In Spain
45
Hectares will be the focus of this project, the Montserratina District, with its 20.216 residents (30% of the whole city), 8.026 dwellings (6.203 of which are built before 1976).
34
GWh is its annual final energy consumption, 75 kWh/year m2.The annual income of this district is 15% lower compared to the city average.
5%
of local economy turnover increase to be generated within the district
EUR 4,269,862.80
Total ERDF budget granted
Challenge addressed

The main challenge is to achieve a low carbon, socially just, healthier and happier community, where citizens play an active role in that change in order to secure a stable Energy Transition Process in Viladecans city.

From all the challenges that a community must face in an energy transition process, VILAWATT will, as a priority, focus on unlocking the needed deep energy renovation of residential buildings. The proposal aims at addressing this situation firstly in low income communities where higher efforts need to be done (In Spain about 17% homes are suffering from fuel poverty).

Housing sector in Viladecans is not being energy retrofitted as expected and private sector is hardly investing because of high risk perception. The municipality of Viladecans is aiming to fulfill with the EPBD (2010) and EED (2012) directives fostering the building deep energy renovation from a more local, participative and inclusive way.

This project will initiate the transition by focusing on Montserratina District (45 Ha.) with its 20.216 residents (30% of the whole city), 8.026 dwellings (6.203 of which are built before 1976, i.e. before any energy related legislation was in place). The annual district income is 15% lower compared to the city average, and its annual final energy consumption is 34 GWh; 75 kWh/year m2.

On a social, economic and environmental level this project will:

  • Awake the community on the energy efficiency and management, and will empower the citizens by making them transit from a passive to a proactive role.
  • Strengthen the local economy by bringing economic empowerment to the community vulnerable groups and by creating new jobs linked to the energy transition.
  • Reduce environmental impacts (GHG, air pollution and other) thanks to energy efficiency measures and the switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy. VILAWATT pretends to reduce these impacts gradually and in a stable way, instead of having an occasionally benefit.
Solution proposed

The Energy Transition will be initiated by the creation of an Innovative Public-Private-Citizen Governance Partnership at Local level (PPCP). This new PPCP will be the central hub that will manage the new local tools for the transition: energy supply, energy currency, energy savings services, deep energy renovation investments and renewable energy production.

This entity will have, for the first time, the Municipality together with the local businesses and the citizens of Viladecans as its members. Its mission will be to promote and ensure a secure, clean and efficient use of energy.

The new entity will create a Local Energy Operator that will be the local energy supplier and the renewable energy producer, and an Energy Savings Company, offering energy savings services and energy renovation investment to all the members. The Capitalization of the Energy Savings will allow the new entity to focus on the investment of deep energy renovations, sharing among the local community the economic risks of that energy saving operations that are not economically attractive.

The creation of this PPCP structure is a completely new approach. It will help to inject a broader set of skills and talent, a more diligent and responsive work culture into the municipality machinery, create a solid foundation for innovative thinking and creativity, empower the community, share common risks and face unbalanced situations. The community energy savings capitalization will provide funds for new deep energy renovation investments.

A new energy currency linked to energy savings will be created, and it will work as an incentive to energy efficiency and as a mechanism to increase economic capacity of vulnerable economic groups. At the same time this alternative currency will strengthen the local economy by assuring a local cycle of the money.

The creation of this local PPCP implies a change on the energy management community role. Therefore this project involves the community from early stages, and has specially defined a wide range of activities to transfer knowledge, build capacities, integrate the design team, create jobs, change the energy vision, create community network, engage and empower the community.

Another key point will be The Energy engaged Communities. There are not mature citizen funding initiatives to date that are focused on the deep energy retrofit of buildings; the lack of community engagement is an obstacle. This project aims at engaging and involving whole community from early conception stages of PPCP creation and implementation to define a long-term city energy community vision.

Partnership
  • Ajuntament de Viladecans
  • Agència d'ecologia urbana de Barcelona - Public agency
  • UBIQUAT TECHNOLOGIES S.L. - Private company
  • ICAEN - Institut Català de l'Energia - Research center
  • Associació LIMA - Low Impact Mediterranean Architecture - Private Company
  • CERCLE GESPROMAT S.L. - Private Company
  • EGM - Private Company
  • VIGEM - Viladecans Grup d’Empreses Municipals, S.L. - Municipallly-owned company
  • VIDEM - Viladecans Grup d’Empreses Municipals, S.L.  - Municipally-owned company
  • CICLICA SCCL - Cooperative
Expected results

The main results of VILAWATT will be:

  • A mindset change in the local population, through enhanced knowledge and capacities related to energy transition and renovation of buildings.
  • A new PPCP organization for energy governance that will empower and engage citizens, local administration and public sector for the energy transition. It will be fully implemented and will include access to local energy supply, energy savings contracting, deep renovations assessment and new financing possibilities.
  • A new energy currency that will be operating in Montserratina District, adopted by PPCP associates and local shops in the implementation area. The energy related local sector will be developed, by empowering local professionals and creating new jobs.
  • The deep renovation of 60 dwellings, supported by a participative scheme, and given high visibility so new commitments for deep renovation are made.
Main milestones

September 2017: Start of citizen participation workshops for the energy transition process. The community work will be coordinated through the associations and public equipments, with working sessions focusing on the energy management in buildings.

October 2017: Communities selected in the contest for the rehabilitation of 3 buildings. The public procurement in order to select the buildings to rehabilitate will be finished and the demo-group with 60 dwellings will be created

October 2017: PPCP governance roadmap. Once finalized the phase of study and design of the organization and governance system of the PPCP, the process for its creation will start.

January 2018: Entry into operation of the new supply/service contracts. From January 2018 it will be possible to contract energy services with the new local operator.

January 2018: Entry into operation of the new local energy currency. In parallel to the provision of energy services, the new local currency will be put into circulation.

January 2018: Opening of the OneStop Administration Bureau. As a place of reference and information point, Vilawatt project will open an office in the Montserratina district, in order to centralize all the information on the Vilawatt project and assess on all the services available.

The project in numbers
17%
of homes are suffering from fuel poverty In Spain
45
Hectares will be the focus of this project, the Montserratina District, with its 20.216 residents (30% of the whole city), 8.026 dwellings (6.203 of which are built before 1976).
34
GWh is its annual final energy consumption, 75 kWh/year m2.The annual income of this district is 15% lower compared to the city average.
5%
of local economy turnover increase to be generated within the district
EUR 4,269,862.80
Total ERDF budget granted
Contact of the project
Marina JARQUE
Corporate Communications and International Relations Director
Lucia Fuselli
UIA expert

Project news & events

logo

Final Journal UIA VILAWATT project

The VILAWATT project was implemented to secure a stable energy transition process through the setting of an innovative governance structure (local pub...
Vilawatt awarded

The Vilawatt project is a finalist for the European RegioStars Awards!

The creation of a local public-private energy company in Viladecans, among the 25 best innovative initiatives on the continent....
The Vilawatt energy transition project is a candidate for the RegioStars Awards

The Vilawatt energy transition project is a candidate for the RegioStars Awards

The REGIOSTARS Awards are a yearly competition, organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. It aims at i...
Once upon a time there was... the Vilawatt Consortium

Once upon a time there was... the Vilawatt Consortium

There are several aspects that led Vilawatt to be selected by the European Union as a benchmark innovative project in the energy transition. However, ...
The VILAWATT currency

The VILAWATT currency

The Vilawatt currency, which is born from the European project of energy transition Vilawatt, is not a currency in itself isolated from the project, b...
Viladecans City Council, AMB, the citizen organisation and the business association for energy transition set up Vilawatt Consortium

Viladecans City Council, AMB, the citizen organisation and the business association for energy transition set up Vilawatt Consortium

The first general assembly took place on February 19th at Casal de Barri de la Montserratina community centre....
2020 arrived and Vilawatt is back with more energy than ever!

2020 arrived and Vilawatt is back with more energy than ever!

The pioneering project of energy transition Vilawatt, is here to stay. ...
Vilawatt strives to show Europe the value of home power renovations

Vilawatt strives to show Europe the value of home power renovations

Work is kicking off in three buildings in the Montserratina and Eixample districts to test out how to reduce consumption while improving comfort....
An update on the implementation of the Public Private Citizen Partnership and of the cirtual currency

An update on the implementation of the Public Private Citizen Partnership and on the virtual currency

Vilawatt is currently considered to be a Spanish example in social innovation and community energy, at a time when energy poverty and energy access ar...
Vilawatt consortium

The Municipal Plenary approves the establishment of the consortium of the future local company Vilawatt

Last March, the municipal plenary provided initial approval of the bylaws of the Vilawatt consortium and the establishment of this new body....
Vilawatt updates

What progress did Vilawatt make in 2018?

We are kicking off a new year, and it is the perfect time to look back and see how Vilawatt has progressed over the past months....
Vilawatt Journal 3

Vilawatt Journal 3: New insights on the progress of the project

Stay up-to-date with the latest achievements of Viladecans...
Gamification in Viladecans

Vilawatt Zoom-In: Exploring the project’s communication and stakeholders engagement strategies

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has developed a PPT slide show to discuss how the Vilawatt project in Viladecans has approached communication, stakeholder pa...
Journal 2

Implementing the VILAWATT project in Viladecans: the use of gamification to communicate on complex energy projects

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Viladec...
Vilawatt Journal 1

VILAWATT Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Viladecans is doing on the topic energy transition in this UIA Expert journal....
Vilawatt UIA project collage

Vilawatt opens its call for demo-renovations

60 dwellings will undergo EU co-funded deep renovation and participate with their energy savings in the energy transition of Viladecans. ...

Energy efficiency explained by playing!

If we want energy to be a driving force for change in our city, we have to be able to communicate the project in a way that our message becomes clear ...
Vilawatt interview Energy

On the project's side - Interview of the VILAWATT project

The UIA Secretariat organised a series of interviews with the projects selected under the topic "Energy Transition". What is the most innova...

Vilawatt starts its implementation phase with the launch of all its Working Groups

Several working groups have been created in order to define the process of rehabilitation works, the participation of communities, and the creation of...

The EU chooses Viladecans for its innovative project Vilawatt for the energy transition in the city

Viladecans has been one of the 18 selected cities amongst 378 project proposals in the first call for Urban Innovative Actions. The EU will subsidize ...

Media

Smart Regions: Vilawatt- A digital currency for saving energy that pays off for everyone!

Innovating for Energy Transition

There are things you learn as a child that you never forget

Vilawatt video: energy efficiency explained by playing

Related projects

Gothenburg
Gothenburg
FED - Fossil Free Energy Districts (Closed)
Topic:
Energy Transition
Population:
548,190
ERDF:
EUR 4,654,800.00
Duration:
01/11/2016 – 31/10/2019
Paris
Paris
CoRDEES - Co-Responsibility in District Energy Efficiency & Sustainability (Closed)
Topic:
Energy Transition
Population:
2,254,262
ERDF:
EUR 4,364,796.48
Duration:
01/11/2016 – 31/10/2019