The European project City-zen under the microscope

Giving substance to the energy transition: this is the ambitious objective set by the cities of Amsterdam and Grenoble with the City-zen project. Sarah Bogaert, general coordinator of the project and Eric Lecomte, representative of the European Commission, presented the heart of this European collaboration at the opening of the inaugural plenary of the City-zen Days.

The objective of the City-zen project is to contribute to the construction of the city of tomorrow through a successful energy transition. The cities of Grenoble and Amsterdam, with the support of many local partners, have embarked on the pursuit of this ambitious objective by implementing innovative life-sized solutions. In addition to the diversity of the actors involved, the City-Zen project is distinguished by the plurality of areas invested: heating and cooling network, energy planning, thermal renovation of housing, smart grids.

The City-zen project was launched in March 2014 and will end in November 2019. In addition to substantial support for several Grenoble projects (approximately €8 million in engineering and investment grants received by local partners), City-zen includes a monitoring and technical and social support approach, which not only places residents at the heart of the energy transition but also ensures that actions carried out in other territories can be replicated.

All 22 projects deployed in Grenoble and Amsterdam should save nearly 60,000 tonnes of CO2 and contribute to achieving the European Union’s “3 times 20” objectives: by 2020, Member States must have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20%, covered 20% of their energy needs with renewable energies and increased their energy efficiency by 20%.

To learn more about the City-zen project and European energy policy, find the presentations of the two speakers:

• Overview of the City-zen project, Sarah Bogaert (Vito)
• European energy policy and cities, Eric Lecomte (European Commission – DG Energy)