Attica Region: Actions to save up to 60% energy

The Region of Attica places – as it emphasizes – special importance to the protection of the Environment and taking into account the conditions that have been shaped by the energy crisis, it is intensifying actions such as the energy upgrade of building infrastructure and the replacement of the existing energy-consuming sodium lamps with LED lamps. In many cases, the interventions that have been made or are planned, contribute to energy savings, which in some cases exceed 60%.

In addition, in the Attica Regional Program 2021-2027 there is a provision for related budget actions of over 160 million euros.

By order of the Regional Governor of Attica, Giorgos Patoulis, the competent services are additionally strengthening the existing planning, with which important steps have been taken, and are drawing up an important program to reduce energy consumption.

Actions

In the Programming Period 2014-2020 and in the context of Priority Axis 04 “Promoting the energy efficiency of the use of RES and Cogeneration and promoting Low Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Urban Areas” of the Operational Program of the Attica Region, the following actions were planned and are being implemented:

Action 4.3.1.1. – Interventions to improve energy efficiency in Public Buildings, with a budget of approximately €25 million benefitting Municipalities of Attica, which do not participate in the approved Integrated Spatial Investments for Sustainable Urban Development.

43 projects, with a Public Expenditure budget of €18 million, have been included in the action and are being implemented, which concern energy upgrading projects of 107 buildings under the jurisdiction of the Municipalities (schools, municipal buildings, etc.). Upon completion of the interventions, the energy identity of the buildings will be improved by at least two energy classes, achieving energy savings exceeding 40%. The total estimated primary energy savings that will be achieved after the completion of the interventions is expected to exceed 17,500 MWh per year.

Action 4.3.1.3. – Energy upgrade of homes in the Attica Region.

This is the contribution of the Attica Operational Program to the “Save at home” action with a budget of almost €25 million. As part of the action, it is estimated that approximately 2,000 households will be able to upgrade their homes in terms of energy efficiency.

LEDs

Action 4.3.1.4. – Energy-saving interventions in the street lighting of the road axes of the Region of Attica with a budget of €33 million. This is the action of replacing the existing Mercury/Sodium lamps street lighting networks of the Road Network under the jurisdiction of the Region of Attica, with new LED technology lamps, with the aim of saving energy, with the parallel installation and commissioning of a remote management and supervision system street lighting network. As part of the action, approximately 21,900 lamps operating on road axes of the Region’s jurisdiction are to be replaced, thus achieving energy savings of more than 60%, which is equivalent to an estimated annual energy saving of approximately 24,200 MWh.

The new lighting installed also has a dimming option, which provides a further reduction in consumption from 5% to 10% (depending on how much it is dimmed by). At the same time, the project of replacing the existing traffic lights that operate with incandescent lamps is in full progress, with high-definition and low-consumption LED indicators. Around 21,000 energy-consuming traffic lights have already been replaced with LED traffic lights (there are 37,000 installed traffic lights in the Attica Region), which results in energy savings of over 45% and a cost reduction of over €2.3 million per year. Also, 7 old-style variable message signs, which are placed at key points of the road axes of the Attica Region, were replaced with new color full matrix signs of particularly low consumption. At the same time, all 24 variable message signs on the roads of the Attica Region were ordered to be switched off during the night hours (from 00:00 a.m. to 06:00 a.m.) in cases where there is no need for information. of drivers for an emergency or dangerous event. In this way, energy savings of approximately 55% and an annual cost reduction of over €615,000 are achieved.

In addition, the following actions are implemented

Action 4.3.1.5. – Energy Upgrade of educational buildings under the responsibility of School Buildings Organization S.A. with a budget of 14 million euros.

Energy saving actions within the framework of the four approved Integrated Spatial Investments. From the Program budget, an amount of €22.5 million has been allocated to the four approved Integrated Spatial Investments for Sustainable Urban Development of the Athens Urban Complex (i.e. of Athens, Piraeus, South Athens and West Athens) for the implementation of corresponding actions, mainly in the buildings of the municipalities that participate in them.

ATTICA BUSINESS PROGRAM 2021-2027

Energy saving actions in buildings and public infrastructure, actions to support RES projects, the promotion of electric mobility and sustainable urban mobility are key priorities of the new Operational Program of the Attica Region, which was recently approved by the EU. These actions in combined with the actions of the Region to protect against the consequences of climate change and those of promoting the circular economy contribute to the achievement of the climate goal in a percentage that reaches 30%.

More specifically, the following actions are foreseen:

Action 2.1.1. – Energy upgrades of public buildings, budget €59.5 million, with beneficiaries Municipalities of Attica.

Action 2.1.2. Energy saving interventions in public space, budget €33.5 million.

Action 2.2.1. Support for the development of RES projects in municipal infrastructure, with a budget of €21 million, with beneficiary Municipalities of the Attica Region. The action will include projects with the aim, beyond electricity production, of alleviating social groups in the spectrum of energy poverty.

Energy saving projects in buildings and public infrastructures in the framework of Integrated Spatial Investments.

In addition to the above, it is foreseen the implementation of energy saving actions in the context of Integrated Spatial Investments, budget €51 million and corresponding actions in ΕΕΜ concerning residential units (functional areas) that are developed in one or more Municipal Units and with a population < 50,000 inhabitants, budget 5 million €.

Actions to promote electrification and sustainable urban mobility

It should be noted that a special priority of the Attica 2021-2027 program is the promotion of sustainable, multimodal urban mobility, as part of the transition to a net zero carbon dioxide emission economy. In this context, the following are indicatively included:

Actions to create cycle paths, and specifically the construction project of the Northern Cycle Axis, with a budget of €6 million
Pilot actions to promote electric mobility in the Region of Attica, with a budget of €2.5 million.
Corresponding targeted actions are planned to be implemented in the framework of Integrated Spatial Investments with significant budgets (around €25 million).

Source: in.gr