By Bejay Browne.
A delegation from Paphos municipality recently took part in a conference in Rosenheim in Germany along with other partners of ‘Sinfonia’, a European programme to create smart cities.
“The municipality of Paphos presented the progress of the project as well as the path to its implementation,” a spokesman told the Paphos Post.
The primary objective of the “Sinfonia” project, a five year initiative, is to develop large-scale integrated and scalable energy solutions in medium-sized European cities.
A unique cooperation between the cities of Bolzano in Italy and Innsbruck in Austria has the aim of saving 50% of primary energy and increase the share of renewables by 20% through a comprehensive set of measures.
This includes combining the retrofitting of more than 100,000 sq. m. living area, optimising the electricity network, and promoting solutions for direct heating and cooling.
The project is implemented under the European FP7 Programme, now known as Horizon 2020.
Participants were briefed and presented with the implementation of the planned actions of Bolzano and Innsbruck. Paphos, as an ‘early adopter city’ will benefit from the knowledge that will be conveyed through the models and typologies that emerge from the experience of Bolzano and Innsbruck.
This valuable information will allow for the targeted implementation of these systems, based on Paphos’ needs, in the context of a long-term policy for the energy upgrade of the existing building infrastructure of the city.
“In collaboration with other municipalities of Cyprus as ‘sister cities’, the municipality of Paphos will share this expertise by helping to form a common ‘map’ or strategy for renovating public buildings in Cyprus in order to convert them into energy efficient buildings,” he added.
Sinfonia was launched in June 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2020. More than 15 partners are involved in the programme, with a total project budget exceeding € 43 million. The total budget for the municipality of Paphos is € 145,176.
