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30 Jan 2024
The final event of Bilbao Zero2, which was held on January 26 at the Ensanche Building in Bilbao, put the finishing touch to an in-depth programme of open innovation and showcased the technological solutions of Izpitek, Telur, Tecuni and Giroa-Veolia in meeting Bilbao City Council's challenge of maximising the generation of renewable energy in municipal buildings so as to improve the city's net energy balance.
Bilbao Zero2 promoted an open innovation space to address challenges defined by the municipal areas of Bilbao City Council in collaboration with four strategic clusters in the Basque Country, their associated companies, universities, technology centres and other actors.
One of the challenges addressed was the integration of renewable energy generation into the municipal building stock, motivated by the obligation to meet the 32% renewable generation target set by Law 4/2019 on energy sustainability. This challenge was led by Bilbao City Council’s Treasury-General Services Department with the support of the Basque Energy Cluster.
From an initial open session, in which 17 proposals for innovative technological solutions were presented by 11 companies for integrating geothermal, micro-wind and photovoltaic energy generation points into buildings, a process of selecting, filtering and prioritising ideas was undertaken over several months, culminating in the appointment of the 4 finalist companies - 2 of them SMEs - to roll out and validate their solutions in four pilot projects in Bilbao, specifically in the municipal facilities of Elorrieta and Miribilla.
José Tesán, Deputy Director of the Treasury-General Services Department, and representatives from Izpitek (a Tecnalia spin-off), Telur, Tecuni and Giroa-Veolia, presented the pilot projects at the event and the main results achieved to date in the process of validating the technologies used.
Three of the pilot projects focused on validating solar generation technologies and solutions: one using hybrid solar panels with dual use of thermal and electrical radiation, the result of a collaboration between Giroa-Veolia and Tecuni, another using embedded solar cells for implementation on lightweight roofs, developed in collaboration between Izpitek and Tecuni, and the third using bifacial photovoltaic cells (active on both sides), deployed by Tecuni.
The four pilot project looked at the use of geothermal exchange through a study, a contrast sensor and a proposal with several implementation options made by Telur.
José Ignacio Hormaeche - General Manager of the Basque Energy Cluster - used his speech at the event to highlight the impact that the Bilbao Zero2 initiative has had on the companies in the Basque Energy Cluster - particularly SMEs - due to the opportunities to make contact with the heads of the City Council's municipal departments, learn about their concerns first-hand and be able to offer them their expertise and range of technological solutions.
Meanwhile, Xabier Ochandiano, Councillor for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism and Employment of the Bilbao City Council, stressed the importance of continuing “to build a city that is attractive to talent, and committed to technology and innovation with projects that promote strategic collaborations”.
Keyword
Innovation
C/ San Vicente 8, Edificio Albia II.4ª plta Dpto. B. Dcha. 48001 Bilbao
Tel. 94 424 02 11
mail@clusterenergia.com