Águeda, Portugal
Águeda set up a local Fund for Energy and Water Efficiency
Known for its colourful streets, the small Portuguese
town of Águeda undertakes a number of actions from environmental
education to technological innovation and energy efficiency with the
objective to become the first ‘Smart City’ in the country. It does not
lag behind the front-runner European cities when it comes to innovative
financing either. The municipality has just created a local Fund for
Energy and Water Efficiency based on the model used by the city of
Stuttgart (Germany).
In the framework of the Covenant of Mayors, Águeda developed a
Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) aiming at improving the city’s
energy efficiency and autonomy. The focuses on increasing energy
efficiency and using renewable energy, intelligent energy management,
energy diversification in public transport and the promotion of
sustainable mobility, climate change adaptation, prevention and
management of climate risks as well as investments in the water and
waste sectors.
The SEAP implementation requires considerable funding. The city of
Águeda therefore decided to set up a local revolving Fund for Energy and
Water Efficiency (FEWE) and a related internal contracting scheme that was already tested by the city of Stuttgart, in Germany.
The municipality implemented the following measures enabling the smooth operation of the fund:
- Setting up the regulation and operational management procedures
of the FEWE which was created with the purpose of financing investments
to modernize municipal facilities, public lighting system and increase
its energy and water efficiency by reducing the use of electric power,
gas and water. All municipal services may present eligible investment
proposals.
- Setting up a “Fund of Energy and Water Efficiency Platform” designed to systematize and provide information on the energy consumption of municipal buildings and facilities.
- Capacity building of the municipal staff about the fund and its functioning.
- Launching and testing the FEWE through a pilot project
consisting of a set of energy audits in various municipal buildings
(municipal indoor pool, youth forum, municipal library, municipal
stadium and one elementary school).
Regarding the standard internal contracting procedures, they are
simpler than those used by the city of Stuttgart and adapted to the
needs of a small-sized city. These will be based on simple e-mail
requests from all municipal services to the Environment and
Sustainability Department which manages the fund.
The project proposals will be evaluated according to a two-step approach:
- The project has to comply with the measures featured in the SEAP (one or more of the identified typologies)
-
Deeper evaluation will be carried out against the following criteria
(weighting factor/score): payback (35%), energy savings (30%),
CO2-emission reduction (15%), contribution to the Covenant of Mayors or
Mayors Adapt objectives (10%), innovation (10%). Based upon this second
stage, the project will get a score. The implementation of the project
depends on its score and on the Fund availability.
The municipality does not neglect awareness-raising and education on
local energy and climate protection. Agueda carries out a number of
actions with schools and citizens aiming at encouraging a more active
citizenship.
Useful materials
| Águeda at a glance |
Águeda is a municipality in Portugal with a
population of 49,456 inhabitants. It is a Covenant of Mayors signatory
aiming at reducing the CO2 emissions on its territory by 33% by 2020.
The
municipality is a founding member and a strong supporter of the
Lighting Living Lab, with the objective to promote innovation and
development of research in new technologies and applications in
lighting, with a focus on the concepts of intelligent and
eco-sustainable lighting.
Within the development of the project
“beAgueda” – electrical bicycle of Águeda for free usage, 10 e-bikes
available to the public have already been used by more than 160 users in
a total of 4,000 usages. That corresponds to more than 18,000 km within
2 years, avoiding over than 2.5 tons of CO2 emissions. The e-bikes are
charged from renewable energy sources. The project was co-financed by
the European Regional Development Fund. |
| Who is implementing the intracting financing scheme in Águeda? |
Core team |
| How is the financing scheme implemented? |
Local Study / Action Plan |
| Who backs the scheme at the political level? |
City Council Decision on the establishment of the local Fund for Energy and Water Efficiency / Internal Regulation of the Fund |
| Local communication / marketing tools for the scheme beneficiaries |
Águeda’s Fund website |
More information about Águeda
