84310 December 20th, 2013 1 1 The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views and position of the Table of Contents Executive Directors of the World Bank, the European Union, or the Government of Romania. Executive Summary /1 The TRACE diagnostic is part of work done under the Romania Regional Development Program – a Reimbursable Advisory Methodology /7 Service activity, undertaken by the World Bank at the request Background /9 of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public National Legislation Regarding Energy /9 Administration with EU funding. The report was written by a Background Ploiești /15 team comprised of Manuela Moț, Ranjan Bose, Sebastian Burduja, and Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu. Cristina Zirimis has Ploiești Sector Analysis /19 provided logistical and administrative support throughout the Urban Transport /19 process. The team would like to thank the colleagues at the Municipal Buildings /27 Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration Street lighting /29 (particularly Ionuţ Trincă, Costel Jitaru and Bogdan Ţigău), as Power Sector /30 well as the colleagues in the Ploiești City Hall and the Prahova Water Sector /31 County Council, who supported the team throughout. The Solid waste /35 team would also like to thank peer reviewers Stephen District Heating /38 Hammer, Feng Liu, Paula Restrepo, and Pedzi Makumbe, for the excellent feed-back provided. Energy Efficiency Recommendations /43 Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan /44 TRACE (Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy) was District Heating /46 developed by ESMAP (Energy Sector Management Assistance Urban Transport /48 Program), a unit of the World Bank, and is available for Municipal Buildings /54 download and free use at: http://esmap.org/TRACE. Street Lighting/55 Annexes /57 1 1 Executive Summary The limitations of TRACE The fact that TRACE is simple and easy to implement, also means that Why a study on energy efficiency? there are limitations with respect to the depth of analysis. For example, The main impetus for this report (and for the reports prepared for the the tool may identify District Heating as the a priority sector in terms of other six growth poles) is a request received from the Ministry of Regional potential energy savings, but it does not go into detail on the required Development and Public Administration. The request came within the costs to complete district heating rehabilitation projects. Thus, even if the context of on-going preparations for the 2014-2020 Programming Period, energy savings potential is assessed to be high, the costs may be even with Energy Efficiency being one the major themes of the Europe 2020 higher, and an investment in the sector may not be warranted. Similarly, strategy, and a critical priority for all EU Member Countries. Within although TRACE specifically focuses on the service areas that fall within Romania, local authorities that will want to access energy efficiency funds the purview of local authorities, the tool cannot factor in the institutional under the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme will need to first and legislative mechanisms that need to be in place to make a specific prepare energy efficiency strategies. The TRACE tool is specifically energy efficiency recommendation possible. targeted at local authorities, and is a good instrument for drafting such strategies. Boundaries of studied area While this work focuses on the growth poles in Romania, the analysis was What is TRACE? limited to the boundary of the center city. The reasoning for this is quite The Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE) is a simple and simple: it is prohibitively difficult to collect individual indicators for all the practical tool for conducting rapid assessments of energy use in cities, The constituent localities of a metropolitan area. In most cases, this would tool helps prioritize sectors with significant energy savings potential, and have required in-depth discussion with over 20 localities, ensuring that all identifies appropriate energy efficiency interventions across six sectors — these localities had the required indicators for a particular service area, transport, municipal buildings, water and wastewater, public lighting, solid and ensuring that they used the same methodology for the calculation of waste, and power and heat. It is a simple, low-cost, user-friendly, and these indicators. Nonetheless, the sector analysis and recommendations practical tool that can be applied in any socioeconomic setting. took the metropolitan scale into consideration, and the section on sound urban planning practices was done at the full metropolitan level. The advantages of TRACE TRACE is one of the most powerful energy efficiency tools, specifically Summary of findings developed for cities. It is simple, easy to implement, and quite intuitive, After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began its transition from a centralized and it allows a quick assessment of energy savings potential in six key system to a market-run economy. Today the country is a member of the public service areas: urban transport; water and wastewater; municipal European Union (EU) and NATO. After more than a decade of economic buildings; street lighting, power and centralized heating; and, solid waste restructuring and political change, the country has taken significant steps management. The tool can be implemented relatively quickly and is not towards catching up with the economic performance of more developed data- or cost-intensive. Moreover it allows local authorities to get a rapid EU countries. Although radical reforms brought about significant changes assessment of their city’s energy performance, and to i dentify sectors that in the recent years, the standard of living of Romanians is still behind the may be subjected to a more in-depth analysis. EU average. Ploiești is one of cities where such disparities are less pronounced, because of its proximity to the capital-city, București (the richest area in Romania), because of its strategic trade location (along two 1 pan-European transport corridors) and, not in the least, because of the implemented at the household and residential buildings level and is going revenues generated by the oil refineries surrounding the city. Benefiting on well, and the landfill located outside the city is one of the most well from the expansion of București’s economic base, Ploiești has had a performing in Eastern Europe. As elsewhere in Romania, most of the growing economy in the past years, although it has suffered from municipal buildings need rehabilitation work to decrease energy demographic decline as well as from the recent economic crisis. Currently, consumption and reduce heating bills. Nonetheless, thermal rehabilitation the city is part of the most densely populated and economically most well of residential buildings as well as some of the municipal buildings developed areas in the country, along the București -Ploiești-Brașov improved the overall energy efficiency. Electricity tariffs are regulated by growth corridor. the national government. The government is still subsidizing the energy The economic development in the transition period after the end price for domestic users. However, the liberalization of the energy sector of the communist regime has led to significant changes in the social and has already started for the industrial users and will continue in 2013 with economic life of the residents of Ploiești. Some of these developments non-domestic clients. Subsidies are going to be gradually eliminated by have positively affected people’s life, whereas a few came along with the end of 2017, when the liberalization of the market will be complete. some inconveniences and difficulties. The central government is encouraging the energy production from For instance, like everywhere in Romania, the increasing number renewable sources, and Green Certificates are provided to such of cars in Ploiești caused heavy traffic congestion, high fuel consumption, producers. and significant greenhouse emissions. This has led to difficulties and The local government of Ploiești has a number of ambitious inconveniences in commuting for both public and private transport, an projects to develop the city, improve quality of life for its residents, and area that the city government should address. The city requires more not the least, open the doors for more energy efficiency projects. Such parking areas, new rolling stock for public transport with efficient fuel plans include the rehabilitation of the tram lines, developing non- consumption, and more pedestrian friendly areas. Municipal buildings pedestrian networks, building park-and-ride facilities, purchasing non- should be audited to identify the right measures to improve energy polluting and energy efficiency buses, improving the street lighting consumption in education and health care facilities administered by the system, and increasing the efficiency of the wastewater system. City Hall. Despite of modernization and rehabilitation work that has been The location of Ploiești along the București-Ploiești-Brașov performed in the district heating sector, there are still obsolete heating growth corridor and its proximity to București should enable the capital of pipes that generate water leaks and heat losses. On the other hand, the most urbanized county to continue on a positive development path. although the water system is covering the entire city and all water This report is based on the implementation of the TRACE tool in February connections are metered, some deteriorated parts of the water 2013, and it outlines some ideas on what the city could further do to infrastructure are prompting losses in the network. improve its energy efficiency performance. But there are significant things Ploiești has accomplished in the past few years. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact is that the district TRACE (Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy) is a simple and quick heating is among the top most efficient systems in the country, and as a diagnostic tool that is used to assess a city’s energy performance in six consequence, residents in Ploiești pay the lowest price for heat in the service areas (urban transport, municipal buildings, water and country. All streets in the city are lit, and old inefficient bulbs have been wastewater, solid waste management, public lighting, and power and replaced with modern, efficient ones. The transport network is well heat) and to provide recommendations for improving energy efficiency. In developed, connecting the city from one side to another, and with a each of the service areas, TRACE uses a benchmarking algorithm to number of recent upgrades of the rolling stock. The generation of solid evaluate energy cost savings potential, and factoring in the level of waste is lower than in other cities in the region, selective collection is 2 influence of local authorities, it prioritizes what the authorities should do Non-motorized Transport according to where the biggest savings can be achieved. The local government should encourage non-motorized transport options To complete data collection and to get a more comprehensive idea of in the city and step up efforts to improve and expand related issues in the city, a World Bank field trip was organized in February 2013. infrastructure. The main priorities in this respect should be on developing The implementation of TRAC in Ploiești was carried out in close more pedestrian areas and expanding the bike path network. From an collaboration with local authorities and public and private utility services energy efficiency perspective, the more people that walk or bike, providers. At the end of this quantitative and qualitative analysis, several translates into less people that use private vehicles, and consequently into recommendations were drawn out. These recommendations are a lower fuel consumption. Investments in non-pedestrian network can summarized below. help raise the quality of life in Ploiești, and they encourage business development in and around the newly established pedestrian areas. Energy Efficiency Action Plan The first recommendation suggested to the local authorities in Ploiești Public Transport Development was the development of a proper energy efficiency strategy and action Although the public transport is quite well developed, only 30% of the plan. The city is one of the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors, and commuters in Ploiești use buses, trolleybuses and trams for their daily now is in the process of preparing the Sustainable Energy Action Plan trips. This figure could be improved by further developing the public (SEAP), a document that will include concrete measures and steps towards transport system in the city. One of the immediate priorities of the local reducing greenhouse emissions by 20% by 2020. Such plan is crucial government is to further invest in the infrastructure of the tram network before embarking on ambitious projects to improve energy efficiency in by rehabilitating and modernizing a large portion of the existing tram the city. The energy efficiency strategy can lay out vision and objectives lines. At the same time, the City Hall is preoccupied to improve efficiency for such work, and provide a list of activities that could help the city of the public transport system by replacing some of the old fleet with new achieve those objectives. energy-efficient rolling stocks that takes life-cycle costs into consideration. District Heating Maintenance and Upgrade Parking Restraint Measures The district heating system in Ploiești is perhaps the most performing As the number of private cars in Ploiești has almost tripled in the last 20 system in the country, and the city residents pay the lowest price for heat. years, the traffic has increased heavily and the existing parking lots cannot The improvements and rehabilitation work on the district heating system accommodate anymore the growing number of vehicles. Consequently, performed in the last period of time have made the centralized heating local authorities should consider measures to address this situation. One more efficient, with the number of clients connected to the thermal plant of the best ways to deal with traffic congestion is the development of remaining relatively stable in the recent years (unlike what has happened “Park and Ride” facilities, which promote multimodality by linking parking in many other cities). However, there still remains much to be done. Most to public transport. People who travel to the city drive their cars to these importantly, it is important to continue the rehabilitation and upgrade of facilities, from where they take public transport to get to their workplace. the network, including the modernization of boilers and pipelines, in order But before such facilities are developed, one has to have a better to diminish the heat loss and improve the overall efficiency of the system. understanding of commuting patterns in the larger metropolitan area, and However, such investments should be weighed very carefully, to ensure the extension of public transport infrastructure should precede the that both economic and social benefits can be maintained, including lower development of such facilities. operating costs, as well as low heating tariffs. 3 Traffic Restraint Measures of priority sectors. The chosen priority sectors usually included sectors As the number of private cars has gone up in the past decade, local with a high energy and money savings potential, and sectors where local authorities should identify ways to curb private vehicle usage and focus on authorities had a high degree of control. Sectors which were either under more sustainable, efficient, and less costly transport alternatives, while the control of private operators, or the control of county councils or also alleviating traffic. The city government may also consider enforcing national level authorities, were usually not considered. speed limits in the downtown area, and setting-up “no driving days” (e.g. For each of these priority sectors, the team has chosen a number on Sundays) to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to move more freely of key recommendations, based on the discussions with the public utility through the city. operators, and based on the site visits and data collection. In turn, these recommendations were discussed with local authorities, and a limited Municipal Buildings Audit and Retrofit number of priority recommendations (usually around 10), were selected Like most of the cities in Romania, Ploiești does not have a database from the list prepared by the team. tracking the energy performance of municipal buildings. A municipal In some cases, local authorities have chosen priority sectors and building data base is necessary in order to get an idea of which buildings recommendations that did not necessarily offer the highest savings offer the greatest saving potential. After the data base is completed, it potential. A more in-depth discussion on each of those recommendations, should be followed by a full audit of the buildings administered by the city including the position of local authorities is discussed in the Energy government targeting specific energy consumption for end users and Efficiency Recommendations Section. The Matrix below provides a activities, like computers, lighting, air conditioning, and heating systems. snapshot of the priority sectors and recommendations chosen for the City This would help draw a plan for how resources can be allocated to of Ploiești. improve the energy performance of municipal buildings in the city. The results could prompt the local administration to allocate funds for energy Cross growth pole comparison efficiency upgrades, purchasing new equipment, and performing some Having the benefit of implementing TRACE in 7 of the largest cities in renovation work on certain buildings. Romania, the team identified a number of common challenges, and a number of common approaches for addressing energy efficiency issues. Street Lighting Timing Program For example, it became quite obvious that almost every city with a district In the past years the mercury lamps of the street lighting system in heating in Romania has issues running this system in an efficient manner. Ploiești were replaced with more efficient sodium vapor ones. The city District heating systems in Romanian cities were almost exclusively built government is thinking to further implement solutions for reducing energy before 1989, and they now have large segments of o leaky and poorly consumption by introducing a street lighting timing program. This system insulated pipes. Moreover, the district heating systems were not built to would allow the light to be adjusted for specific needs in a particular area, also serve large industrial facilities (which now are largely gone), and they according to varying weather and activity levels. For instance, more light is were not designed for individual metering (i.e., with a vertical distribution needed at 21:00 PM when more people are out than at 02:00 AM when system in apartment blocks, instead of a horizontal system). Because of there is less activity on the streets. the losses in the system (which ultimately get reflected in the monthly bill), because heating cannot be adjusted or turned off when not needed, Prioritizing Recommendations and because of the high and growing price of thermal energy, many The process used by the team to get to the recommendations presented people have decided to de-branch themselves from district heating above was twofold. On the one hand, the TRACE tool has a step-by-step networks. mechanism analysis system, which enabled the team to identify a number 4 Matrix with Energy Efficiency priorities and proposed programs 5 Virtually, every growth poles has witnessed disconnections from the and wastewater systems are generally run by public companies, with centralized heating system, as people have resorted to individual heating county councils being the majority shareholders. options (e.g. individual gas powered heating units). In some cities, such as Also a number of the growth poles had drafted or were in the Brașov, the share of people who de -branched from district heating process of drafting Covenant of Mayors SEAP reports (e.g., Brașov, Cluj- represents a large majority of the population; in other cities, such as Napoca, Timișoara), while others (e.g., Ploiești or Craiova) were Constanța, the number of people who left the centralized heating system considering to start the process. is lower. All in all, every growth poles that has been part of this study has undertaken energy efficiency measures in the past years, and all have Priority sectors for energy efficiency improvements in growth poles good practice lessons they can share with other cities. Brasov Cluj Constanta Craiova Iasi Ploiesti Timisoara Private The importance of good urban planning for energy efficiency 3 1 1 2 2 3 2 While TRACE does not explicitly deal with this issue, urban planning plays Vehicles Public a crucial role in energy efficiency. Cities that promote and encourage a 2 2 3 1 4 4 4 Transport dense and compact urban development pattern tend on the whole to be District more energy efficient. On the whole, dense cities require less investment 1 5 2 1 2 1 Heating in public services infrastructure development and maintenance (roads, Municipal water networks, sewer lines, street lighting, solid waste management, 5 3 4 3 3 5 5 Buildings public transport, etc.), they allow higher profitability for public transport Street 4 4 5 4 5 - 3 operators (since every transit stop serves on average more people than in Lighting Solid Waste less dense cities), they enable walking and biking as means of commuting, - - - - - - - they discourage car use and transport-related pollution, they can help Management Water and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, they require less energy 6 - - - - - - Wastewater expenditures for the delivery of key public services (e.g., pump costs for Local water, fuel costs for garbage collection).It is estimated that the energy Authority - - - 5 - 1 - consumed for transport needs in a city with a density of less than 25 Management people per hectare may reach an annual average of 55,000 mega joules per person. By comparison, in an urban area with a density of 100 people For most growth poles, urban transport (private vehicles and public 1 per hectare, this figure is about three times lower. Consequently, a transport) was identified as a key sector, although cities like Iași and separate section on spatial planning was introduced in the report, Timișoara (which have the largest tram networks in Romania outside discussing some key related issues for each city studied. A more complete Bucharest), generally have energy efficient public transport systems and analysis of spatial planning challenges in Romanian cities is included in the as such have this sector lower on the priority list. Enhanced Spatial Planning report. Generally, solid waste management, as well as water and wastewater, did not make it on the priority list of growth poles. For one, solid waste management systems in Romania tend to largely be operated 1 European Environment Agency. 2006. Urban sprawl in Europe: The ignored by private companies, and energy efficiency improvements in these challenge. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency (Report No. 10/2006). systems are accrued by these private operators. On the other hand, water 6 Methodology 3. Assessment and Ranking of Individual Sectors During the city visit, a number of meetings and interviews are conducted to collect additional data across city departments and The Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE) TRACE consists of agencies, augmenting benchmarking results with contextual three principal components: (i) an energy benchmarking module which information. At the end of the first phase, a prioritization process takes compares key performance indicators (KPIs) among peer cities (ii) a sector place to identify sectors with the greatest technical energy savings prioritization module which identifies sectors that offer the greatest potential. Energy costs are also weighed, as is the ability of city potential with respect to energy-cost savings, and (iii) an intervention authorities to control or influence the outcome. Priority sectors are selection module which functions like a “playbook” of tried-and-tested EE reviewed in detail in the second phase. measures. These three components are woven into a user-friendly software application that takes the city through a series of sequential The main frame of TRACE steps: from initial data gathering to a report containing a matrix of energy efficiency recommendations tailored to the city’s individual context, with implementation and financing options. The steps are as follows: 1. Collection of Candidate City Energy Use Data TRACE contains a database of 28 key performance indicators (KPIs) collected from over 100 cities. Each of the data points that make up these KPIs is collected prior to the application of the tool and, as TRACE is launched, this collection of information will grow with current and reliable data. 2. Analysis of City Energy Use Against Peer Cities The performance of a city is compared with a range of peer cities — selected by the city based on population, climate, and human development—to determine their performance in each of the six sectors (3-6 KPIs per sector). The benchmarking process provides an overview of energy performance so the city can assess its relative rankings against peer cities in each sector. The Relative Energy Intensity (REI), or in simpler terms the percentage by which energy use in a particular sector could be reduced, is calculated using a simple formula. The formula looks at all the cities that are performing better on certain KPIs (e.g. energy use per street light), and estimates the average improvement potential. The higher the number of cities in the database, the more accurate the final result are. 7 4. Ranking of Energy Efficiency Recommendations Recommendations are then assessed based on five different factors: TRACE contains a playbook of over 60 tried and tested energy finance; human resources; data and information; policy, regulation and efficiency recommendations in each of the sectors. Some examples enforcement; and assets and infrastructure. This step helps cities better include: rank measures that are within its capacity to implement effectively. TRACE  Buildings | Lighting Retrofit Program then enables recommendations to be plotted on the basis of two  Organizational Management | Energy Efficiency Task Force, attributes on a 3x3 matrix (energy savings potential and first cost), with an Energy Efficient Procurement additional filter that enables the user to sort recommendations based on  Power & Heat | Solar Hot Water Program on Buildings implementation speed.  Public Lighting | LED Replacement Program for Traffic Lights  Transport | Traffic Restraint in Congested Urban Areas, City Bus Recommendations in each priority sector are quantitatively and Fleet Maintenance qualitatively evaluated based on key data, including institutional  Waste | Waste Management Hauling Efficiency Program requirements, energy savings potential, and co-benefits. Those  Water & Wastewater | Pump Replacement Program recommendations carried forward will be supported by implementation options, case studies, and references to tools and best practices. The TRACE Benchmarking Module 5. Report Preparation and Submission A Final City Report records the city review, along with city background information and various aspects of the city visit included in introductory sections and annexes. The report includes:  City background information, such as city contextual data, key city development priorities, energy efficiency drivers, barriers etc.  An analysis of the six sectors, including a summary of the benchmarking results.  A summary of sector prioritization based on city-owned and city-wide scales  A draft summary of recommendations provided as the City Action Plan  An Annex section, with a more in-depth discussion on energy efficiency recommendations and best-practice cases. The Final City Report enables the city to move forward with the most feasible recommendations in a structured manner to allow the city to eventually improve its overall rankings, performance, and save money. 8 Background Romania joined the EU, many Romanians left the country to pursue better opportunities in Western Europe. Other factors responsible for this th decline are the aging of population as well as a significant rise in number The 7 largest country by population in the European Union (EU), of the families with no children. Romania is predominantly urban, Romania is located in Southeastern Europe, in the lower basin of the although the urbanization level is still below that of countries in Western Danube river. It has a stretch of coastline along the Black Sea and also Europe; half of population resides in municipalities, cities and towns, owns much of the Danube Delta. Romania borders Hungary, Serbia in the while up to 10% lives in the capital city. West and South West, Bulgaria in the South, the Republic of Moldova in According to the 2012 census, the most populous cities in the East, and the Ukraine in the North and East. Almost 50% of Romania’s Romania are the following: territory is part of the Carpathian Mountains range. The country has a temperate continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. As Table 1. Ranking of select Romanian cities by population part of the communist bloc countries for nearly half a century, Romania brought down the authoritarian regime with the 1989 Revolution, and City 2012 census 2002 census / Rank then it began its transition from a centralized system towards democracy București 1,883,425 1,934,449 (#1) and market economy by implementing a series of structural changes and Cluj-Napoca 324,576 318,027 (#3) reforms. If initially the economy was centered on agriculture, during Timișoara 319,279 317,651 (#4) communism it gradually shifted to an industrial one, ultimately making Iasi 290,422 321,580 (#2) significant steps towards a service-based economy over the past two Constanța 283,872 310,526 (#5) decades. In 2004 Romania joined NATO and three years later it became a Craiova 269,506 302,622 (#6) member of the EU. Brașov 253,200 283,901 (#8) After a period of massive economic restructuring and political Galați 249,432 298,584 (#7) change, the country has taken significant steps to catch up with the Ploiești 209,945 232,452 (#9) economic performance of more developed EU countries. Although Oradea 196,367 206,527 (#11) government policies and radical reforms brought about significant changes, income levels of Romanians are still behind the average level in Source: National Institute of Statistics, 2012 Census the EU countries. In addition, the disparities within Romania mean that http://www.recensamantromania.ro/rezultate-2/ there are significant differences in terms of standards of living between the country’s regions. The country is divided into 41 counties, plus the capital city, București (Bucharest), and into eight development regions National Energy Efficiency Legislation (although regions do not have formal administrative powers as of April Romania’s energy consumption per capita is almost twice as low as the 2013). Apart from Bucharest, each development region is organized average in the EU, at 1.6 toe (ton of oil equivalent). Between 1990 and around a growth pole center (city), and comprises four to seven counties. 2000, energy consumption fell by an average of 5 % per year, and then Despite of being among the most populous countries in Europe, Romania increased slightly after 2000 by 1.3% per year. At the beginning of the has experienced a decline in population in recent years. The stable economic crisis in 2009, energy consumption dropped by 14%, and then population declined by 7.1% over the last decade, from nearly 22 million increased by only 1.3% in 2010. Amid the economic recession, the to 20.1 million, according to the final results of the 2012 census. However, country’s GDP followed a similar decreasing trend and fell by 8.3%. Energy the population decline did not necessarily come as a surprise. After efficiency at the national level has increased significantly between 1990 9 and 2000, from 23% to 39%. It is a consequence of the rising share of high Government, in addition to investments in equipment to oversee energy efficiency power sources (hydropower) in the electricity mix, as well as consumption. Estimates indicate that EU countries that have implemented improving efficiency of thermal power plants. However, it still remains such agreements reached 10 to 20% in energy savings. Large consumers lower than the EU average. must carry out energy audits and energy efficiency improvement In the early 1990s, Romania created its first institutional programs, while an energy balance must be produced every year for those framework for energy efficiency when the Romanian Agency for Energy consuming 1,000 toe/year and every two years for those who use Conservation, the country’s main specialized body in the field of energy between 200 and 1,000 toe/year. From 2000 onwards an energy saving efficiency, was established. Ten years later Romania adopted the National certificate has been issued for all new buildings, single-family dwellings Energy Efficiency Strategy, a document outlining steps to be taken to and apartment that are sold or rented. Heat insulation work benefitted increase energy efficiency. In the 2000s, Romania ratified the Kyoto from tax breaks and co-financing was provided for renovation work. 4 Protocol to the United Nations Conventions on Climate Change, under The Second Energy Efficiency Action Plan focuses on energy which the country has committed to cut its emissions of greenhouses savings in the primary energy and power sectors, and promotion of energy gases, between 2008 and 2012, by 8% from 1989 levels. from renewable sources. 5 The Romanian Fund for Energy Efficiency became operational in The First National Strategy for Energy Efficiency for 2004-2015 2003 and ever since it has provided subsidies for investments to 27 energy set an ambitious 40% target in energy intensity reduction for the period efficiency projects promoted by large industrial operators, totalizing $14.4 2005-2014. Decrease in energy intensity should be achieved through 2 million. In order to comply with EU requirements, the Government programs promoting high energy standards for new installations, as transposed the Directive No.2006/32/EC regarding energy efficiency following: 41% in buildings, 29% in the energy sector, 16% in industry, and among the end users and energy suppliers into national legislation, 14% in transport. Few years later, the National Strategy for Energy 6 requiring EU member states to undertake steps to reduce energy Efficiency for the period 2007-2020 set further targets to reduce energy consumption by at least 9 % for 2008-2016, as compared to consumption intensity by 41% through 2020 by advancing feasible solutions to cover for the previous five years. the country’s future energy demand at a lowest price. By then, estimated The Energy Road Map for Romania was approved in 2003 during primary energy savings and reduction of losses should achieve anything the negotiations for EU membership. Pursuant to EU Directive on energy between 25% and 40% (20-25% in industry, 40-50% in buildings, and 35- reduction, the First Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the period 2007- 40% in transport), by improving efficiency in the power sector. The energy 20103 set an energy saving target of 2.8 Million toe by 2016, and it further saving target was set to 3.4 Million toe by 2020. In this context, 1.9 Million aims for 1.5% annual reduction for the period 2008-2016. The toe saving is expected to come from fuel substitutions, 800 ktoe from high intermediate target of 940,000 toe by 2010 was far exceeded, as Romania achieved 2.2 Million toe in energy saving. The plan document foresees 4 great potential for energy savings for the industrial sector through Second Energy Efficiency Action Plan available at: voluntary long-term agreements between industrial agents and the http://www.minind.ro/dezbateri_publice/2011/PNAEE_12_cu_anexe_2_1108201 1.pdf 5 The First National Strategy for Energy Efficiency for the period 2004-2015 2 Romanian Fund for Energy Efficiency available at: http://www.minind.ro/domenii_sectoare/H163-04.html 6 http://www.free.org.ro/index.php?Itemid=112&id=96&lang=ro&option=com_cont National Strategy for Energy Efficiency for the period 2007-2020 - updated ent&task=view version for the period 2011-2020 available at: 3 First Energy Efficiency Plan for the period 2007-2010 available at: http://www.minind.ro/dezbateri_publice/2011/Strategie_2007_actualizata_2011_ http://ec.europa.eu/energy/demand/legislation/doc/neeap/romania_en.pdf 01092011.pdf 10 efficiency co-generation (Combined Heat and Power), and 600 ktoe from policy was drafted in 2010, in the very difficult context of the economic new coal-fired units. crisis. It encouraged the use of liquid bio-fuels, liquid gas, geothermal and The main objective of the National Strategy Regarding the clean energy, as well as the integration of biogas into the natural gas grid 7 Thermal Power Supply of Cities approved in 2004 addresses key issues and retrofitting technologies. The Directive 2009/28/EC on renewable concerning energy efficiency of the heating system. The thermal power energy set the national target for the share of energy from renewable supply system is built on obsolete technologies and old pipeline networks, sources in gross final production of energy at 24% for 2020. The expected with low energy efficiency, very high losses (35 % on average), in addition total energy consumption in 2020 was set at 30,278 ktoe, of which 7,267 to high production, transport, and distribution costs. Poor insulation of ktoe in renewable energy. Targets for specific industrial sectors have been buildings adds another 15% to the losses. Actions meant to increase designed, such as 10% for transport, 22% for heating, and 42% for energy efficiency include implementation of large scale co-generation electricity. plants, modernization of network, diversification of primary energy used Romania received support from the European Bank for for thermal power production, and installation of meters in residential Reconstruction Development (EBRD) to help companies open credit lines buildings. Resource consumption for the centralized heating systems for energy efficiency projects. The country receives financial support should diminish by 612,000 tons. However, the modernization of the through the Operational Sector Program for Boosting Economic entire heating system is very costly, and it requires investment of billions Competitiveness aimed at increasing energy efficiency. Small and of euro. medium-sized enterprises may receive up to 65% financial support for a 8 The Strategy for Use of Renewable Energy Sources, approved in period of three years to help them obtain environmental certificates for 2003, encourages energy production from renewable sources in order to appliances and office equipment. 10 increase the share of electricity produced from such sources. Romania’s Government Ordinance 22/2008 regarding energy efficiency potential of renewable energy sources is estimated at 14,718 ktoe. and promotion of energy from renewable energy sources to end However, the development of such energy potential is constrained by consumers requires local public administrations in towns with a obsolete technological limitations, economic efficiency, and population greater than 20,000 people to produce action plans to environmental restrictions. Therefore, the plan is pushing for transfer of generate the most efficient energy savings in the shortest period of time unconventional technologies from experienced companies, joint-ventures, (3 to 6 years). Similarly, companies and local and central government units and private public partnerships. The target shares for renewable energy owning more than 25 vehicles must develop fuel consumption monitoring sources out of the total energy consumption were set at 33% for 2010, and management programs. 35% for 2015 and 38% for 2020. Use of renewable energy could result in The National Multiannual Program for the Thermal 1.8 Million toe energy saving from primary sources by 2020. The National Rehabilitation of the Residential Buildings Built between 1950 and 1990 9 Renewable Energy Action Plan outlining the renewable energy national started in 2005 and was improved each year. The program is coordinated by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration 7 National Strategy regarding the thermal power supply of cities http://www.termopitesti.ro/HG%20882-2004.pdf version is available at 8 The National Strategy for Using of Renewable Sources was approved by http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/action_plan_en.htm (click on Government Decision 1535/2003 available at: http://leg- “Romania”). 10 armonizata.minind.ro/leg_armonizata/energie/HG_1535_2003.pdf Government Ordinance 22/2008 available at: 9 The National Renewable Energy Action Plan – available at (in Romanian) http://www.dreptonline.ro/legislatie/og_eficienta_energetica_consumatori_finali http://www.minind.ro/pnaer/PNAER_29%20iunie_2010_final_Alx.pdf English _surse_regenerabile_energie_22_2008.php# 11 (MRDPA) and it is developed in partnership with local authorities. It aims buildings within municipalities that have applied for funding through the at increasing the energy performance of buildings, improving the quality Regional Operational Program (Priority Axis 1 Development of Growth of life for inhabitants and, not in the least, contributing to a better Poles– Intervention Axis 1.2 Thermal rehabilitation of residential townscape. Public buildings and dwellings built between 1950 and 1990 buildings) will not receive further support through the thermal are very poorly insulated and offer low thermal comfort, causing rehabilitation multiannual program. However, the good news is that the significant loss of energy. The key beneficiaries of the program are program has been extended to houses that have been developed between owners’ associations. Thermal insulation can reduce maintenance costs 1950 and 1990. The new regulation also clears the way for local for heating and hot water consumption and decrease heat loss and authorities to establish the so-called “thermal rehabilitation tax”. This tax consumption. It can achieve up to 25% energy efficiency, while the will be paid by buildings that did not have any financial contribution to the heating bills are expected to drop by 40% during winter time. Moreover, rehabilitation process. in the summer, rehabilitated buildings can better keep the appropriate Following the success of the rehabilitation program, the thermal comfort of the dwellings without additional costs for air Government thought about reducing the public funding accessible for conditioning. A guide regarding how the rehabilitation work should be such projects, and loans with government guarantee were made available. 11 14 done is available on the Ministry’s website . According to Emergency Ordinance 69/2010 owners associations must 12 A few years later, Government Ordinance 18/2009 regarding have 10% down payment, while the rest is covered from a bank loan. The the thermal rehabilitation of blocks of flats added more consistency to the owners’ associations pay back the loan from the savings obtained over the program by specifying the minimum level of the thermal rehabilitation. heating bills before the thermal insulation work is complete. This new The execution work is financially supported from Government’s state program includes old buildings built between 1950 and 1990, those budget (50%), the local budget (30%), and by owners’ associations (20%). developed after 1990, and individual homes. Since 2009 MDRAP provided funding equivalent to USD 190 million (RON The Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of the 15 660 million) for the rehabilitation of 3,500 multi-story residential buildings buildings requires the Member States to adopt a methodology for in over 100 municipalities and cities. The law allows for the local city calculating the energy performance of the buildings, that should include councils to grant tax exemptions on residential buildings for owners who thermal characteristics, heating insulation, water supply, the air- have performed rehabilitation work from their own funds. conditioning installations, the built-in lighting installations, indoor climatic At the end of 2012, Government Emergency Ordinance conditions, and not in the least, electricity produce by co-generation. The 13 63/2012 brought some changes to the rehabilitation program EU law is concerning both existing and new buildings. The law is coordinated by the MRDPA. According to new regulations, residential exempting the historical buildings, worship facilities, temporary buildings, residential buildings intended for a limited annual time of use, and stand- 11 The guide is available at: alone buildings of which the surface area does not exceed 50 square http://www.mdrt.ro/userfiles/constructii_ancheta_publica_contr429_contr411.pd meters. The main objective of the law is to have all new building close to f) 12 Government Ordinance 18/2009 available at: 14 http://www.mdrl.ro/_documente/lucrari_publice/reabilitare_termica/OUG_reabil Emergency Ordinance 69/2010 approved by Law 76/2011 available at: itare.pdf Methodological regulations available at: http://www.dreptonline.ro/legislatie/oug_69_2010_reabilitarea_termica_cladirilo http://www.mdrl.ro/_documente/lucrari_publice/reabilitare_termica/Norme.pdf r_locuit_finantare_credite_bancare_garantie_guvernamentala.php 13 15 Government Emergency Ordinance 63/2012 available at: Directive 31/2010/EC available at http://eur- http://www.mdrt.ro/dezvoltare-regionala/programul-operational-regional-2007- lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32010L0031:EN:NOT 2013/-8748 12 nearly zero-energy by December 2020. Same criteria are applicable by can also provide financial support between 7% and 63% of the total st December 31 , 2018 to new buildings occupied and owned by public heating bill. authorities. Member States should come up with national plans that put Sixty-one cities in Romania are signatories of the Covenant of into practice the definition of nearly zero-energy building, and the Mayors, the mainstream European movement involving local and regional intermediate targets for improving the energy performance of new authorities voluntarily committing to increasing energy efficiency and use buildings by 2015. At the same time, the Member States must issue an of renewable energy sources on their territories, as well as reducing CO 2 energy performance certificates that should include the energy emissions by 20% by 2020. Participants to the Covenant must submit a performance of the building along with recommendations for cost Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) outlining actions they plan to improvements. This certificate should be available when renting and undertake with regard to energy savings. 22 out of 61 cities have selling a building/unit. The municipal buildings with a total floor area of submitted their SEAP to Brussels, namely: Aiud, Sântana, Petrosani, over 500 square meters and buildings of the same size frequently visited Făgăraș, Zlatna, Moinesti, Arad, București (District 1), Baia Mare, by public, must display the energy performance certificate in a prominent Timișoara, Cugir, Satu Mare, Vaslui, Alba Iulia, Bistrița, Mizil, Slobozia, place where this could be clearly visible. After July 9, 2015 the 500 square Brașov, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Avrig, and more recently Cluj-Napoca. So far, meters threshold will lower to 250 square meters. eleven action plans have been approved by the Covenant of Mayors, As part of EU requirements, Romania adopted Law 372/2005 namely the SEAPs of Moinești, Vaslui, Alba Iulia, Bistrița, Mizil, Slobozia, addressing the energy performance of residential buildings. An energy Brașov, Arad, Aiud, Râmnicu Vâlcea şi Baia Mare. performance certificate is issued based on the final energy consumption of buildings and apartments. The country also transposed into national Energy Sector 16 legislation EU Directive 2003/30 EC on the promotion of the use of bio- At the end of 2012, Romania’s installed capacity of electrical power plant s fuels or other renewable fuels for transport. Government Emergency was 18,481 MW, while the netto available power was 15,998 MW, 17 19 Ordinance 1844/2005 established a 2% share of renewable energy in the according to Transelectrica. The netto power provided was 11,424 MW, transport sector by the date of Romania’s accession to EU (2007) and a and domestic consumption accounted for 7,413 MW. In February 2013 5.75% share by 2010. the split of domestic consumption by types of energy production showed 18 The Government Emergency Ordinance 70/2011 establishes that the largest share is based on coal (33% - 2,593 MW), followed by social protection measures for the cold season, helping low-income hydro carbons (23.9% - 1,877 MW), hydro energy (24.8% - 1,948 MW), residents pay the heating bills. The Government is supporting people who and nuclear (18.1% - 1,419 MW). Wind energy is almost nonexistent, with use the district heating system, as well as heating systems using a only 0.3% or 24 MW. different type of fuel, be it natural gas, wood, coal, etc. The financial aid The electricity sector is unbundled, with several players in the range for single people and families with low income benefitting from aid field. There are quite a few companies in charge with production, a from the state budget can range between 10 and 90%. Local city budget significant number of distributors, and a noteworthy number of suppliers. However, there is only one player responsible for energy transmission and 16 who owns the entire transmission network, Transelectrica, a state-owned Directive 2003/30/EC available at: http://eur- company. Energy production is divided into seven major producers, lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:123:0042:0042:EN:PDF 17 Government Emergency Ordinance 1844/2005 available at: 19 http://ngo.ro/pipermail/mediu_ngo.ro/2006-February/004597.html RET Plan - Period 2010-2014, and perspectives for 2019 18 Government Emergency Ordinance 70/2011 regarding social protection http://www.transelectrica.ro/PDF/Planul%20de%20Perspectiva%20al%20RET%20 measures in the cold season. 2010-2014-2019%2013dec.pdf 13 20 namely Complexul Energetic Oltenia, Complexul Energetic Hunedoara, from hydro used in power plants with installed capacity up to 10 MW of Nuclear Electrica, CE Arad, SC Electrocentrale Deva, Hidroeletrica, and wind, solar (photovoltaic), geothermal and natural gas associated, OMV Petrom. CEZ, ENEL Energie Muntenia, Enel Energie, E.ON, and biomass, biogas, gas from the landfill waste fermentation and from Electrica Distributie (with its three branches, namely Electrica Distributie fermentation of sediment from sewage treatment of used waters. Energy Transilvania Nord, Electrica Distribuție Transilvania Sud, and Electrica producers receive a Green Certificate for each MW of energy produced Distribuție Muntenia Nord) are the distribution companies. Energy from renewable energy and sent to the national grid. The law is forcing distributors are by default energy suppliers. Accordingly, the main suppliers to purchase a mandatory quota of green certificates from the suppliers are Electrica Furnizare, CEZ, ENEL Energie (responsible for total amount of electricity distributed to the end users. A number of Dobrogea and Banat zones), ENEL Energie Muntenia, and E.ON Energie certificates are annually available. The Green Certificate has unlimited Romania. Of 177 energy suppliers registered in the country, only 20 validity, and it can be traded separately from the electricity associate companies are actually active. through bilateral contracts or on the green certificates centralized market. The price varies from 27 EUR (to protect the producer) to 55 EUR (to 21 The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) was established in protect the consumer). At the end of 2012, 300 Million Green Certificates 1999 and is the regulatory body in the field of electricity (including heat were available in Romania for the period 2013-2019. The EU approved in produced in co-generation) and natural gas. The Agency is dealing with July 2012 an additional distribution of 71.4 Million Green Certificates for licensing, issuing technical and commercial regulations, and protecting of greenhouse emissions for 2013-2019. the interests of consumers and investors. The agency regulates tariffs for Recently, in June 2013, the Romanian government reviewed the energy and natural gas for domestic and non-domestic clients, approves compensation scheme granted to renewable energy producers, and cut the calculation methodology to set up tariffs and prices, and sets tariffs off the number of green certificates, as a „temporary suspension” until for captive consumers (those who cannot choose the energy provider). It March 2017 for hydro and solar/photovoltaic energy, and by January 2018 22 also establishes tariffs for electricity companies, transmission and for wind energy . The new provisions, which are effective July 1st, 2013, distribution systems and for activities associated with heat production are amending the Law 220/2008 for promoting energy from renewable through co-generation. OPCOM is the Romanian energy market operator sources. The new law is cutting down the number of green certificates. established in 2000, as a joint stock company subsidiary of the Romanian For each 1 MWh produced, the new small hydro plants with an installed Transmission and System Operator, Transelectrica. The company is capacity of less or equal to 10 MW will receive one green certificate less, providing the framework for the commercial trades’ deployment on the same for the wind energy plants. In case of solar energy facilities, the wholesale electricity market; it exercises the role of Day-Ahead market number of green certificates was cut down by two. In this way, the new operator and administrator of the Green Certificates, as well as of the small hydro plants would get 2 certificates instead of three, the solar greenhouses emissions certificates trading platform. Green Certificate is a plants would be awarded four certificates instead of six, while the wind mechanism promoting energy produced from renewable sources such as facilities would receive one certificate instead of two. Following the legislative elections in December 2012, the new 20 structure of the Government includes a Delegated Minister for Energy, a Complexul Energetic Oltenia was established in 2012 after the merger of four large energetic companies, namely Societatea Nationala a Lignitului Oltenia Tg. Jiu, Complex Energetic Turceni, Complex Energetic Craiova, and Complex Energetic 22 Rovinari. More information available at: 21 More information on ANRE available at: http://www.anre.ro/ http://media.hotnews.ro/media_server1/document-2013-04-2-14540999-0- proiect-privind-suspendarea-schemei-sprijin.pdf 14 new institution expected to add more consistency to the country’s energy Prahovei where many popular mountain resorts are located. According to policies. the 2012 census, there are 209,945 inhabitants living in Ploiești. The population registered a descending trend by 10% over the 2002 census. Liberalization of the natural gas and electricity markets The municipal area is spread over 58.2 square kilometers, and the The Memorandum of Understanding agreed with the IMF, the World population density of the built mass of the city is 61 people per hectare – Bank, and the European Commission in March 2012 opens the market for down from 83 people/ha in 1992. At present, the density of population is electricity and natural gas. The regulated price for electricity for domestic 3,990 people per square meter. The Ploiești Metropolitan Area comprises and non-domestic consumers will be gradually eliminated by 2017, while 14 localities: one municipality (Ploiești), three cities (Băicoi, Boldești- for natural gas the same principle will be applied by 2018. Scăieni, Plopeni), and ten communes (Ariceștii Rahtivani, Bărcănești, The price increase for natural gas for non-domestic consumers Berceni, Blejoi, Brazi, Bucov, Dumbrăvești, Păulești, Târgșoru Vechi, Valea (economic agents and industrial consumers) is going to be 35% for years Călugărească). Brazi is home to the largest refinery in the country. The 2013 and 2014 altogether. For domestic consumers, the price will go up Metropolitan zone is spread over 611.6 square kilometers (148.7 square by 10% in 2013, by another 10% in 2014, and by 12% each year from 2015 kilometers are urban areas) and accounts for a population of 327,309 through 2018. Electricity prices will go up gradually, in parallel with the residents. increasing of the quota of electricity traded in the free market. The price Downtown Ploiești of electricity for non-domestic consumers went up already starting in September 2012, when the quota traded in the free market increased by 15%, with an additional 30% in January 2013. The elimination of regulated tariffs will be complete by January 2017. Domestic consumers will pay more starting July 2013. By the end of 2017 when the gradual elimination of regulated price will be concluded, domestic consumers will be able to choose their energy supplier. The supplier must introduce the “competitive market component” to the final bill, providing to the clients information that should help them choose the best offer, such as prices depending on voltage, tariffs for transport and distribution, payment methods and due days, and meter readings. Background Ploiești The only city in Europe surrounded by four oil refineries, Ploiești is the capital of Prahova County, which is the most populous and urbanized county in Romania, with two municipalities and 12 cities, and a total of Source: eurocars.ro 100 localities. Prahova County has one of the largest absolute GDPs in th Romania. Ploiești is located only 60 kilometers north of București and 40 In the mid-19 century Ploiești city was one of the world’s leading oil kilometers from the country’s largest airport. refinery and extraction sites, known as the Capital of the Black Gold. The city is situated in the vicinity of Romania’s most significant Between the two world wars Ploiești was perceived as the largest oil vineyards, Dealu Mare - Valea Călugărească, and has access to Valea producer in Europe. During the Second World War, the oil refineries 15 suffered the heaviest bombardment in the country, and many of the largest tourist center in Romania, after București and Constanța. Ploiești is nearby residential areas, industrial compounds, roads and railways were home to the Oil and Gas University (the largest education center in the destroyed. The city had been reconstructed ever since to become today field with 10,000 students), the National Institute of Wine and Vineyards, one of Romania’s key economic centers. Despite of the decline of oil two soccer teams, and many cultural and historical monuments (such as production nowadays, there is still a prosperous oil processing industry, the Clock Museum and the Oil Museum). linked by pipelines to București, the Port of Constanța and the Danube River Port of Giurgiu. Local Energy Efficiency Laws The Ploiești Growth Pole is located at the crossroads of two Ploiești has been a beneficiary of the Rehabilitation Program of major multimodal European transportation corridors, Pan European IV Residential Buildings built between 1950 and 1989 coordinated by the and Pan European IX, respectively. (Corridor IV is connecting growth poles Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. As part of Timisoara, Brasov, Ploiești, Constanța via București, while Corridor IX is this program, aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the Communist linking Chișinău, the capital of Republic of Moldova, Iași, Ploiești and apartment blocks, the city was granted close to RON 8 million for the București). Ploiești took advantage of the development of transport thermal insulation of 1,800 apartments, within 27 old multi-storey infrastructure that helped boost tourism and opened the way for residential buildings. In accordance with the Methodological Norms for substantial foreign investments in the region. The city experienced a swift the implementation of the Government Emergency Ordinance 18/2009 on economic growth during the transition years due to massive investments energy efficiency of residential buildings, the Local Council Ploiești is amounting to hundreds of thousands of Euros in the field of oil, tobacco, granting tax exemption for the owners who have performed rehabilitation and food processing. Today, the local economy has a complex structure work on their apartments on their expense. The tax exemption is ranging from oil production, oil refinement, oilfield equipment, established for a period of minimum seven years for the owners who have mechanical precision, petrochemical industry, rubber production to thermally insulated their buildings, and for a period of five years for those defense, tourism, food processing, textile manufacturing, and agriculture. who paid for architectural rehabilitation work on buildings or apartments. 23 The Metropolitan zone remains predominantly industrial, concentrating The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Agency (AE3R) , large oil platforms and major services centers. The complex industrial an independent non-profit organization promoting energy efficiency was sector has significant shares in oil, gasoline, minerals, and oilfield established in 2009 under the City Hall, with support from Intelligent equipment that are accounting for 50% of the local economy, making the Energy Europe, a European tool fostering rational use of new renewable area the second most important industrial infrastructure in the country. energy and advancing energy efficiency in the transport sector. The Two-thirds of Ploiești residents are economically active, and agency is one of the eleven local energy associations organized in unemployment is among the lowest in the country (only 1.3%). According Romania benefiting from EU support. The agency is providing support to to the Integrated Urban Development Plan Ploiești, the metropolitan area public authorities in the City of Ploiești and Prahova County to develop has a great labor market potential of 13,000 jobs, out of which 12,000 in sustainable energy policies, and help local authorities plan energy sources Ploiești only. for environment preservation. It is encouraging the use of non-pollutant The vineyards and wine production are predominantly sources and technologies, and promoting the use of renewable energy in concentrated in Valea Călugărească, whereas vegetable crops drive the transport, households and by public and private companies. AE3R is not economic engine in Blejoi, Bucov, and Târgșoru Vechi. Some of the most only bringing stakeholders together to develop energy-related projects, popular mountain resorts in the country - Sinaia, Bușteni, and Azuga - are within an hour drive from Ploiești. The resorts attract a large number of 23 More information available at: http://www.ae3r-ploiesti.ro/ domestic and international tourists, which make Prahova County the third 16 but it also informs local public authorities on available funds and programs Urban Growth and Energy Challenges in Ploiești in the field of energy. The Monitoring Board of the agency has While the TRACE tool does not directly address this issue, one of the most representatives from the Petrol and Gas University in Ploiești, as well as efficient ways of encouraging energy efficiency in cities is by promoting from private and public companies. The members of the organization are dense development patterns and compact urban expansion. This can be public institutions, including the City Hall and Prahova County Council. done by strategically using urban and spatial planning tools. The less Most of public institutions do not have a dedicated energy department dense and the more scattered a city is, the larger its energy expenditure and so they rely on the agency’s expertise to plan investments in the field will be. Basically, without density public transportation is less viable and of energy. more people rely on private cars for commuting; commutes in private cars One of the main projects that have been developed so far by the tend to be longer in sprawled areas and city streets tend to congested, agency is a guide for investors in the field of renewable energy. Another with cars spending more time in traffic. Water and sewage networks have project currently under preparation is an energy audit of public buildings to cover a much wider area, requiring more energy for pumping and water larger of equal to 500 square meters. A couple years ago the organization delivery. Garbage trucks have to run longer collection routes and spend commissioned an energy study prepared by Gas de France to assess the more time delivering waste to disposal sites. The street lighting network energy saving potential of the county, especially with regard to public has to cover a greater number of streets and consume more energy. A buildings. The plan, which includes appropriate measures with regard to district heating network becomes less viable in areas with small density energy efficiency, is yet to be approved by Prahova County Council. because of the high production and distribution costs, and because heat Finally, another area of interest for the agency is the Green House losses are larger when the distribution network is bigger. National Program. The program started in Prahova County in 2012, and is Of course, as a study of the World Bank has shown, the large focusing on replacing classical heating systems with those using majority of cities worldwide (whether they are located in the developed or renewable energy heating systems using renewable energy , such as solar, the developing world), are losing density. As more people come to rely on biogas, or geothermal. As the program seemed to be appealing to private cars, they are also more willing to move further away from city centers. companies, now the agency is helping interested firms in assessing their With an increase in expandable incomes, they can also afford larger eligibility for applying to such funds. homes. The Ploiești Municipality Strategy for Sustainable Local authorities are not powerless though in addressing those 24 Development , better known as “Local Agenda 21”, a document challenges. They have a number of tools they can use to ensure that the prepared with the support of UNDP in 2002, was the city’s action plan for loss in density is not too pronounced, and to ensure that the city expands economic development, improved infrastructure, and environment in an organized, compact, and sustainable fashion. Ploiești has been more protection. One of the objectives related to environmental protection and adept than other cities at using these tools. prevention of urban pollution presupposed the modernization of the It has to be mentioned however that Ploiești has not known the public transport fleet and the use of eco-friendly fuels. Further referral to same urban expansion as other cities. For example, between 1990 and this document will be made in the following sections, when discussing 2011, only 4,400 new housing units were developed in Ploiești (around issues pertaining to public service utilities. 200 units annually), and the city’s urban mass has expanded by only 6,5%. Of all territorial administrative units in Romania, Ploiești has ranked only 24 th Ploiești Municipality Strategy for Sustainable Development available at: 20 in terms of new housing units built. As a comparison, one of Cluj- http://www.ncsd.ro/documents/local_agenda_21/AgLoc21_KWh_eng.pdf Napoca’s suburbs – Florești, has built in 2008 (the peak of the real estate 17 boom in Romania) around the same number of new units as Ploiești did in The urban mass of the Ploiești Growth Pole 21 years. Because of this, Ploiești tends to keep a relatively compact structure, with a fewer suburbanization problems than other growth poles. Nonetheless, if one looks at the built mass of the Ploiești Growth Pole (the City of Ploiești and 13 other localities), one notes that the area as a whole is anything but well planned. Smaller localities are scattered around the center city, and the large majority follow an elongated form, following major roads leading in and out of Ploiești. Some of these localities have expanded much quicker than Ploiești (e.g., Târgșoru Vechi, Aricestii-Rahtivani, and Blejoi have grown between 1992 and 2012 by 73.7%, 41%, and 36.7% respectively), and it will be important to introduce sound spatial planning practices at the metropolitan level. More specifically, planning cannot be done anymore within a clearly delimited administrative boundary. Instead, local and regional authorities have to plan for functional urban areas. Luckily, Ploiești benefits from being situate on a relatively flat terrain. This will allow the metropolitan area to develop in a more sustainable fashion, as there are fewer topographical constraints – e.g. being situated in a river valley, like Cluj-Napoca is, being developed along a mountain range, the way Brașov is, or being situated along a water body, the way Constanța is. 18 Ploiești Sector Analysis most significant cost savings could be achieved. This list is leading to a set of recommendations that are likely to have the biggest impact in terms of The following analysis and recommendations are primarily about how energy efficiency, for the lowest amount of effort and resources invested. Ploiești can become a more sustainable city. Although the focus will stay Preliminary on-site interviews and field visits have helped form a on energy efficiency, the scope of the analysis goes beyond that. Energy is more accurate picture of sustainability, challenges, and opportunities in easy to quantify and to measure, and is a good binding element for Ploiești. The following sections include a brief analysis of each of the six thinking about a city in a comprehensive way. Almost everything that is sectors analyzed with TRACE, along with some salient findings. done in a city requires some form of energy input. Thus, TRACE (Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy) is not just a tool for assessing potential Urban Transport energy and cost savings, but it is also an instrument that allows local Public Transport authorities and policymakers to think about cities as a whole. Eventually, The local transport in the city is well organized by Regia Autonomă de TRACE is a diagnostic tool that helps cities become more sustainable. Transport Ploiești (RATP) - Local Transport Authority - a public company TRACE is focusing on six municipal service areas: urban transport under the city government. The public transport fleet has around 230 (public transport and private transport), municipal buildings, water and vehicles comprising buses, trams, and trolleybuses, connecting the city wastewater, power and heat, street lighting, and solid waste. For each of from one side to another, including to some of the industrial platforms these service areas, TRACE requires the collection of a number of and big retailers located on the outskirts of Ploiești. There are 35 bus indicators. These indicators are both energy related (e.g., the fuel routes, two tram routes, and two routes served by trolleybuses. However, consumption of the public transport fleet) and not (e.g., urban transport only around 30 percent of commuters in Ploiești use public transport, a modal split). The indicators on energy help analyze energy and cost figure which puts the city in the lower side of the TRACE database, and savings potential in each sector, while the non-energy indicators give a even so when compared to a number of cities in Easter Europe. The figure more clear picture of these public utility services, and help choose the is also among the lowest from the growth poles. most appropriate recommendations so that they go beyond just energy issues. Public transport mode split Energy and cost savings potential are assessed through a benchmarking process. Individual indicators selected for Ploiești are compared with similar indicators from other cities included in the TRACE database. There are few different ways to make this comparison. Cities can be compared based on level of development, climate, or population. Those cities that do better than Ploiești, on a particular indicator can become a benchmark that Ploiești itself can aspire to. For example, if several cities have lower energy consumption per passenger kilometer in the public transport sector, it is an indicator that city government in Ploiești could achieve energy savings in the ‘Public Transport’ sector (e.g., by modernizing the bus fleet, purchasing energy efficient rolling stock, etc.). The energy and cost savings potential is calculated for each of the six service areas. Subsequently, a priority list is drawn based on where the 19 Although part of the fleet has been modernized in the last decade, some Not in the least, the public transport in Ploiești is served by 18 large, new, of vehicles are older than 25 years. According to RATP the bus fleet has very efficient Neoplan Mercedes trolleybuses. The trolleybuses were 186 buses of which 115 are operating daily. In 2002 the company manufactured in 2001 on a very limited scale (of 30 pieces) for the City of purchased 50 standard diesel MAN buses, compliant with EURO 2 and 3 Lausanne. At that time, the buses were very expensive; the Swiss city paid gas emission standards. The fleet also has 37 small BMC buses that can $1.5 million for each trolleybus. Later, after the trolleybuses incurred accommodate 45 people seating and standing. In addition, there are a some minor technical problems the Swiss authorities decided to sell them number of 20 small Isuzu buses manufactured in late 1990. A third of the to Ploiești for only $150,000 each, a tenth of their initial value. Ploiești bus fleet is relatively old (beyond 25 years), consisting of 60 IKARUS 260 purchased the trolleybuses in 2009, and the city has had them in use ever and 280 type diesel engine buses with high fuel consumption (46 liters per since. 24 trolleybuses are in operation, with three parked in the depot and 100 km). used for spare parts. Each trolleybus is equipped with four 500 The city has 21 kilometers of single tram network serving two horsepower Mercedes engines that run on electricity, but can also run on routes. With almost 105 meters of high transit capacity for 1,000 people, Diesel and bio-fuel. Ploiești is doing pretty well compared to other cities in the TRACE database, such as Tallinn or Belgrade. However, the tram network was Neoplan trolleybus operating in Ploiești built in a rather superficial way in only two years, between 1985 and 1987, at the request of the former communist regime – in observance of the national day. The tramline construction remained unfinished during the communist regime, and today the tram infrastructure is in need of rehabilitation. The tram fleet is comprised of 32 second-hand KT4D model trams manufactured by CKD Prague in early 1980s, which were purchased from the City of Potsdam in Germany. Only 20 of them are in use daily. A dozen of these trams have undergone rehabilitation work and have been equipped with choppers that help reduce the electricity consumption. Table 2: Public Transport Fleet in Ploiești If something goes wrong with the power connection, the trolleybus switches automatically from electricity fuel to Diesel. The engine is featuring military technology, as it could be used for both vehicles as well as submarines. These special trolleybuses can carry up to 140 people. The deck is lowering making the vehicle accessible for disabled people. The doors are equipped with computers that can be controlled by the driver. On average, each trolleybus runs about 200 kilometers daily. Of 24 operational trolleybuses, 16 are in use every day. But in spite of being user-friendly and very energy efficient, these trolleybuses require high Source: Local Transport Authority Ploiești maintenance costs. Apart from small minor repairs, any other serious 20 repair would require special order from the manufacturer at a high cost. was more than $3.5 million. In the same year, RATP paid almost RON 3 Over the long term this can put a big burden on RATUC and on the city million for 9,348,260 kWh of electricity used primarily for operating the budget. trams and trolleybuses. Passengers pay a flat tariff of RON 1.6 per trip, the As mentioned earlier, only one third of commuters in the city rely lowest among the growth poles in Romania. on public transport. Worse-over, the public transport ridership is going slightly down. For instance, 6.7 million passengers relied each month on Public transport tariff – RON /trip public transport in 2012, against 7 million per month in 2011. Ploiești is doing very well in terms of energy efficiency in public transport, accounting for only 0.195 MJ passenger kilometers. This figure puts the city among the top performers in the TRACE database. Important to note is the fact that the public transport energy intensity of Ploiești is much lower comparing to other European cities with a similar Human Development Index, such as Budapest, Pristina, or Skopje. From this perspective, the city is third most efficient among the growth poles, after Cluj and Brașov. Public transport energy consumption (MJ/passenger/km) Source: Local transport companies in the seven growth poles As many other cities in Romania, the city government is providing ridership incentives for certain categories of citizens. Retired people and children under the age of five ride for free, while students enjoy discounted fares. The City Hall subsidizes public transporation tickets and monthly passes. Blood donors can take advantage of a 50% discount for a monthly pass, while veterans, widows, and former political prisoners ride for free. Over time, the city government and RATP made serious investments to improve the quality of the public transport in the city. In RATP is running the public transport in Ploiești with an annual budget of the past decade the city government invested more than RON 12 million RON 60 million (around USD 18 million), of which more than half (RON 35 to expand local transport in the city (e.g., introducing a trolleybus system) million) represent subsidies from the City Hall. The company is operating and performed some rehabilitation work on the tram lines. Promotion of with 1,063 employees including drivers and workers responsible for non-polluting transport system in the city was also included in the Local vehicle maintenance. Almost two-thirds of the operating budget goes for Development Strategy, better known as “Local Agenda 21”. According to fuel expenses, 10% for electricity, 23% for maintenance, and only 5% for the document, EUR 8 million are going to be invested in the purchase of salaries. For instance, only in 2012 the fuel expenditure for the entire fleet 21 clean fuel buses, with the scope of making Ploiești the first city in Romania A number of 10 bus stops were renovated and covered to protect the to have a full fleet of environmentally-friendly vehicles. Ploiești was passengers against bad weather. Economically speaking, the conversion to actively involved in several European and international projects that clean fuel brought only a slight decrease in fuel costs. Even though LPG is promoted a better, clean, and safe access of city residents to public cheaper than diesel, the consumption is double that of diesel buses (56 transport. liters for LPG as opposed to 31 liters for diesel). Nonetheless, the project One of the most important projects in this regard was CIVITAS achieved an important success: the pollution level went down and the SUCCESS. Funded by the EU, the program was developed by the City of quality of public transport services rose as buses were completely Ploiești in partnership with RATP and the Oil and Gas University between modernized before conversion. 25 2005 and 2009 . The project focused, among other things, on building the Other attempts to decrease energy consumption of the public first pedestrian and bike network in the city, a new car-free zone, and transport fleet, and decrease the pollution in the city, have occurred in introducing of new clean fuel transport. Some of the existing old, heavily the last years. For instance, between 2007 and 2010 Ploesti entered into a polluting buses were converted to run on clean fuel. A pilot project with a partnership with a number of cities from Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria and the value of EUR 450,000 including VAT was developed, under which 25 of the UK to promote bio-fuel as an alternative to fossil fuel. existing old, heavily polluting buses were converted from diesel to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). RATP was the first local public transport The public transport network map in Ploiești authority in Romania to convert diesel buses to LPG. Diesel bus converted to LPG Source: www.transportlocal.blogspot.ro Source: www.intergas.ro 25 Information about CIVITAS SUCCESS KWh available at: http://www.civitas- initiative.org/index.php?id=66&sel_menu=35&city_id=11 22 26 The project, called BIONIC, was designed to comply with the EU directive tram network program will be completed in 24 months. City managers 27 that called for the use of bio-fuel in a proportion of 5.75% until 2010 . expect to have the new tram lines operational by mid-2015. Ploiești also received financial support to comply with the European policy on reducing energy consumption based on existing resources, under a Old tramway in Ploiești project called PRACTISE. The project was developed between 2007 and 28 2009 and brought together four European cities - Ploiești, Alessandria, Ille-et-Vilaine, La Coruna – and a UK-based multinational company that is specialized in supporting local authorities prepare strategies for reducing energy consumption. The municipality continued to invest aggressively in the public transport network in the past years. According to the city managers, the investments amounted to RON 81 million of which 30 million RON for maintenance of the tram network. For 2013-2016 the city government is planning to further invest 500 million RON in the public transport system, including from EU structural funds. City authorities are considering the tram as the most efficient and Source: www.tramclub.ro cost-effective means of public transportation. Therefore, the local government is committed to invest heavily in the modernization of the These projects are expected to have multiple positive consequences – e.g. existing tram network, and also expand the tramlines to some other parts improve the traffic flow, reduce phonic pollution, and, not in the least, of the city. Concrete steps have been done to this end. At the end of give the city a modern and less noisy tram network. First phase of the March 2013, the City Hall and RATP signed four contracts for the project is targeting the rehabilitation of 4.5 km of tram line single track Rehabilitation of the Tram tracks – Phase II, under the Regional from Bucla Nord to Republicii Boulevard intersection. A number of 11 29 Operational Programme . tram stops will be adjusted to become user-friendly for people with The total value of all these contracts is approximately EUR 60 disabilities. The rehabilitation work will include signaling, installation of million RON, including VAT. The City Hall’s contribution was only 2% of the automation elements and 149 electrical contact network posts, total value of the contracts. The implementation of the rehabilitation of restoration of the overhead contact lines, as well as of the adjacent roads. The second phase of the program will focus on 6.93 kilometers of single track tram line connecting Republicii Boulevard, the main street in 26 Integrated Development Plan Growth Pole KWh available at: the city, to Bucla Vest. A number of 17 stops will be modified to allow http://www.kWh.ro/pidu042010/tot.pdf disabled people easier tram access, and 237 electrical contact network 27 Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of the use of bio-fuels or other posts will be installed. The last two projects will reconstruct the renewable fuels for transport available at: http://eur- infrastructure and over-infrastructure of the network, and build the lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:123:0042:0042:EN:PDF 28 moving-protection works for water network. Upon completion of this Integrated Development Plan Growth Pole KWh available at: large program the city will have 20 kilometers of modernized tram http://www.kWh.ro/pidu042010/tot.pdf 29 City Hall Ploiești available at: http://www.kWh.ro/29.03.2013.php network and a few new tram connections will be available. The rehabilitation and expansion of the tram network is just one leg of a more ambitious public transport investment program. Other projects are 23 looking into expanding the public transport access to some parts of the maintenance equipment, and by developing new transport policies that city where connections are poor or not available. For instance, a would improve the overall public transport system in Ploiești. multimodal terminal is under construction in the northern part of Ploiești. Once completed, this tram terminal is expected to improve the traffic flow Private transport and also prevent large vehicles, like trucks, to enter the city. As with many other cities in Romania, traffic in Ploiești is a problem. The On the long run, more projects are in the pipeline. The city massive domestic and foreign investments that have poured in the region government is hoping that public transport related projects in Ploiești will in the past twenty-years of transition pushed for a swift expansion of the benefit of significant funds from the next financial programming of the EU private vehicle fleet. The oil industry, with its refineries and associated structural funds starting 2014. industries, the proximity to București and expo sure to better opportunities have pushed development in the city and have enable more Tram network to be rehabilitated expandable income for people. One of the visible results of these positive changes comes in the form of increased private car ownership. In the past decade people kept buying cars to use them not only to commute to their workplaces inside the city or to the industrial and oil platforms located outside Pl oiești, but also for leisure. The proximity of Ploiești to the most popular and attractive mountain resorts in Valea Prahovei plays an important role in the expansion of the private vehicle fleet in the region. Nowadays there are almost 90,000 cars registered with the Traffic Police Bureau Ploiești. Private cars waiting at the red light in downtown Ploiești Source: www.max-media.ro On the other hand, RATP is planning to renew the public transport fleet and replace old vehicles with new, energy efficient ones, operating on clean fuel. To this end, a proposal has been submitted to purchase 50 non- pollutant buses, equipped with video cameras and facilities for disabled people. The City Hall financial contribution to this project is EUR 10 million. Three options of vehicles are under consideration: buses using less pollutant diesel, buses on LPG, and vehicles using Natural Gas. As the For a population of a little over 200,000, a simple math shows that there is City Hall has to make the final decision, it is expected to choose the most one car available for 2.3 people. More than two-thirds of the private cars appropriate vehicle for the city. run on diesel, and a little less than one-third use petrol. The transport company is hoping to perform more rehabilitation There are 1,041 mopeds, in addition to 941 taxis. Like other cities work on the transport infrastructure in the future, by purchasing modern in Romania, the municipality ruled that taxi cars older than 12 years are 24 not allowed to operate. Taxis charge RON 1.59 per kilometer, a tariff Private transport energy intensity (MJ/ passenger/km) lower compared to some of the growth poles, like Timisoara or Constanta, where customers must pay around RON 2 per kilometer. Taxi tariffs – RON/per kilometer The traffic management in Ploiești (i.e., red lights and signaling) is Source: taxi companies in seven growth poles managed by UTI, a private. The company has an agreement with the City Hall for the monitoring and management of the traffic in Ploiești. The fuel consumption for the private cars in 2012 exceeded 44 million of Currently, part of the red lights use LED lamps. The city authorities plan to liters of diesel and Petrol, which is the equivalent of $81 million. Given this install a SCADA system and buy a number of video cameras to monitor figure, there is no wonder that the private transport energy consumption traffic and accidents. The future SCADA system will be connected to public of Ploiești is pretty high, i.e., 2.208 MJ passenger kilometers, placing buildings in order to keep an eye on the streets, and thus, reduce the rate Ploiești in the first half of the TRACE database compared to cities with of crimes in the city. Once the SCADA system will be implemented, traffic similar Human Development Index. Indeed, the energy intensity of Ploiești monitoring and management will be coordinated from the City Hall with is lower than some of other European cities (e.g., Budapest and Warsaw), support from the local Police and RATP. but is at least 50% higher than in others (e.g., Banja Luka or Pristina). The The increase in the number of cars not only increased traffic private transport energy consumption is comparable to some of the congestion in the city, but also posed challenges for parking. Currently, growth poles, such as Craiova and Constanța. the public parking in Ploiești can accommodate 1,217 cars, a figure way Approximately, one third of the cars are up to 10 years old and too small to meet the constantly growing demand. Parking meters have 20% are between 11 and 15 years. A fifth of the fleet is older 20 years old, been introduced in recent years to serve designated parking spots. These while only 2% of the cars are new, up to two years old. As in other cities in meters have replaced the old method, where payment was collected Romania, Ploiești is taking part in the national scrappage program manually by people who showed up right after the car was parked. (“Programul Rabla”), which offers people who bring old cars a premium for burying a new car. The program has played an important role in helping renew the vehicle fleet in Romania. 25 30 The traffic signaling system in Ploiești is managed by a private company Rome, the project encouraged the use of bicycle as an alternative transport mode through a partnership between municipalities and local investors interested in building infrastructure and logistics for cycling. SPICYCLES made cycling tools and know-how available to the cities in an 31 attractive format. Paying by SMS parking system in Timișoara Source: www.adevarul.ro A more sophisticated payment method will be implemented soon, which will allow Ploiești residents to take care of parking fees using their mobile phones. The driver will send a text message with the registration number of his/her car, and will receive instantly a text message with the confirmation of the payment, including the time until the parking is confirmed. The parking time will be extended using the same method, by Source: www.opiniatimisoarei.ro simply sending a text message. This easy and attractive parking payment method is already implemented in few cities in the country, such as The project was implemented between 2006 and 2008, and demonstrated Timișoara, Oradea, Arad, and Satu Mare. that bicycle use can be increased in European cities with different A few ecologically friendly parking systems have been set up in geographic, climate and cultural conditions. In this context, Ploiești had the city by replacing large paved areas with green tiles that allow water to been assigned to design a bike-sharing pilot system which eventually was seethe through and vegetation to grow. Over 24,000 square meters of promoted among commercial companies, local government institutions such parking lots have been already developed in the front of 15 of the and educational institutions. Following an analysis of experiences and city’s residential buildings, and in front of a few shopping centers. There know-how in the field of bike sharing, a strategic scheme was elaborated is also only one multi-story private parking structure, which has been for the set-up of a bike-sharing system with a fleet of 50 bikes resulting in recently opened in the city center. building of the first eight kilometers of bike lanes. Unfortunately, private Over the past years, the city government was preoccupied to 30 develop and expand the non-pedestrian infrastructure, encouraging Integrated Development Plan Growth Pole Ploiești available at: people to walk and cycle. Ploiești took part in SPICYCLES, a program http://www.kWh.ro/pidu042010/tot.pdf 31 developed under the Intelligent Energy Europe program of EU. Developed Newsletter Spicycles together with the cities of Barcelona, București, Berlin, Goteborg, and http://www2.trafikkontoret.goteborg.se/resourcelibrary/SPICYCLES%20Newslette r%201.pdf 26 cars are often parked on the bike lanes, blocking the access of bicyclists in the TRACE database. Other cities in Romania perform better. For (see image below). This is an indication that building infrastructure is instance, 20% of people in Cluj walk and/or bike to work. often not enough – one also needs to put the proper policy in place, and enforce that policy. Pedestrian area in downtown Ploiești Cars blocking bike lanes in Ploiești Source: www.adevarul.ro Another CIVITAS project promoted non-motorized transport by Source: www.evz.ro encouraging walking, as a way of reducing pollution from private vehicle use. The level of pollution in the city is quite high, due to the proximity of Municipal Buildings all kinds of industrial platforms and several oil refineries. This project Most of the city’s municipal buildings are educational units, like schools, helped build 4.3 kilometers of pedestrian zone with improved facilities, kindergartens, which also include additional facilities, such as sport halls, and organized a campaign to encourage positive changes in attitude and dorms, performing halls etc. Ploiești also has few medical units, travel behavior. The first clear zone of one square kilometer in Ploiești was commercial spaces, a stadium, and few administrative offices. The City developed through cooperation between property developers and local Hall Ploiești is a tenant in the Administrative Palace located downtown planning authorities to improve life quality in the city’s historical center by area, a large building constructed during the Communist regime, currently minimizing the impact of pollution (emissions and noise) in the downtown owned by the County Council. The total area of municipal buildings that area. As a consequence, there has been a 20% improvement in public are under the management of the city government sums up to 171,321 transport speed, in addition to a 15% reduction in pollution in the central square meters. zone of the city. Like in many cities in Romania, data on municipal buildings is not But, despite the good work the city has done with regard to non- complete, and some information is missing. For instance, the electricity motorized transport, the number of people who walk or bike for their consumption information is limited to only schools, kindergartens, and the daily commutes is still quite low. Basically, less than 10% of commuters in stadium, with no data on hospitals and local public administration offices. the city walk or cycle. This figure puts Ploiești among the poor performers According to the available data, the electricity consumption in 2012 27 32 amounted to 3,835,908 kWh for which the city government paid around updated list of projects included in Integrated Urban Development Plan RON 1.6 million. The overall heat consumption in all municipal buildings include a number of initiatives pertaining to the use of renewable sources was almost 30,000,000 kWh thermal, which stands for an average of 174 to produce hot water for certain public facilities in Ploiești. Two of these kWh thermal per square meter. This figure is twice as high as the heat medical units that benefit from such program are the County Hospital consumption in municipal buildings in neighboring European cities, such Ploiești and Social Care Services Complex “Sf. Andrei”. The Romanian as Banja Luka and Pristina. The figure is also at the highest end compared Environment Fund is set to provide financial assistance for the Emergency to the growth poles in Romania. Hospital Ploiești to produce hot water from geothermal and solar energy resources. Municipal buildings heat consumption (kWhth/m2) The Administrative Palace hosting the City Hall, Prahova County Council, and the Prefecture In the past years, the municipality has been involved in a few projects aimed at improving energy efficiency in water and heat utilities. In 2009 Ploiești Local Council approved the participation of the city in a national program that encouraged the replacement of conventional heating systems with clean ones, using solar, geothermal and wind energy or other systems coordinated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. With support from the local energy efficiency agency, the city government Under this program, two medical care facilities (the Ploiești Municipal is preparing an application for a program that should make publicly Hospital and the Infectious Diseases Hospital Ploiești) received financial available the data on energy performance for municipal buildings larger or support to switch from the classic method of producing hot water to those equal to 500 square meters. Previously, the law required public using conventional energy sources from solar energy. authorities to make public the energy efficiency of all municipal buildings The city is planning more programs and projects aimed at larger than 15,000 square meters. increasing the energy efficiency in public buildings. For instance, the 32 Integrated Development Plan Growth Pole Ploiești available at: http://www.ploiesti.ro/pidu042010/tot.pdf 28 Street Lighting street lighting is depending on the time of day, and there are differences Some of the public utility services in the city are managed by the Public in this regards. For instance, 1 kWh of electricity cost RON 0.7 including Services Authority (Regia Autonomă de Servicii Publice Ploiești - RASP), an VAT during peak time, and half price (RON 0.35) during off peak. In winter autonomous public company under the City Hall. The company is the street lighting schedule is from 5:30 PM to 7:30 AM, while in the supervising and monitoring the street lighting, solid waste collection, summer the bulbs are on from 10 PM until 5:30 in the morning. district heating, and wastewater treatment sector. The manager of RASP is At the time of the implementation of TRACE in Ploiești, the city appointed by the Mayor. The company has 100 employees. was in the middle of changing the street lighting provider. Luxten, the private energy and saving company responsible for the street lighting in Electricity consumed per light pole (kWh/pole) the city for several years was to be replaced with a public company with shares from the Local Council, Serviciul Gospodărire Urbană (SGU), a company with little experience and knowledge in the field of street lighting. Luxten’s contract with the City Hall was ending in mid-February. The concession agreement with Luxten was actually extended twice, which is the maximum the law allows for. After the contract with Luxten was over, it would take another few months for the new street lighting provider to take over the system in the city. Over the course of time Luxten made several investments in the street lighting infrastructure. These investments started in 2001 and were carried out through 2012. During this period of time, nearly 90% of the old mercury lamps were replaced with more efficient sodium vapor ones. A few years ago, the company attempted to implement an innovative, very efficient but costly lighting system, by installing several LED bulbs in one of the city parks. This was an ambitious pilot project the The street lighting system in the city is doing quite well. Except for one company took on in order to prove that street lighting can be done using a street, all streets in the city, comprising 128 kilometers, are lit. Old clean and efficient solution. Although the solution turned out to be mercury based lamps have been replaced with modern, more efficient appealing for the city mangers it was perceived as very costly, and soon sodium vapor ones. Today there are 16,000 street lighting lamps spread after the pilot project was abandoned. across the city. Following the rehabilitation and modernization process of Replacing the mercury bulbs with sodium vapors bulbs lowered the lamps, the electricity consumption went down drastically, to 9.5 electricity consumption, and improved the overall efficiency of the street million kWh. With a consumption of 595 kWh per lighting pole, Ploiești is lighting in the city. Currently, the system allows for the street lighting doing better than most of the cities in the TRACE database with similar provider to be informed in a timely manner of any problem related to climate – including Sarajevo, Belgrade or Gaziantep. However, Ploiești has street lighting pillars or bulbs by a mere phone call. Often, people call the a slightly higher consumption comparing than cities such as Cluj or Tbilisi, company in the first 10 minutes after a bulb goes off. The fact that all but is lower than some of the growth poles in Romania, including streets in the city are lit helps in keeping down the crime rate in the city. Constanța and Timișoara. In 2012 the municipality spent RON 4.5 million on street lighting, which was about roughly one percent of the city budget. The tariff for 29 Street lighting poles equipped with new sodium vapor bulbs Distrbutie Muntenia Nord is responsible for the power distribution in Prahova county and Ploiești city. The losses in the transmission and distribution system are 11%, while the commercial losses amount to 2%. The losses in the transmission network are lower than the ones in the distribution system. According to Electrica transformer an upgrade is needed to reduce losses in the distribution network. Percent of transmission and distribution electricity loss Recently, the municipality had an attempt to employ a centralized light dimming program but unfortunately some problems occurred and few components did not work out. Some of the streets where the light dimming program was implemented reacted against this system. As it was about to end the contract with the municipality, Luxten was not interested to further pursue this program, neither to find out what went wrong and fix the system. In 2012, total electricity consumption for 94,521 residential consumers In the future, one of the RASP’s very ambitious plans is to further and some of economic agents in the city amounted to a total of 589,318 improve the system and introduce LED-based street lighting in the city. MWh. This figure does not include industrial consumption and those However, for the time being, the municipality knows that the city budget economic agents who fall in the eligible consumer category – i.e., clients cannot sustain the capital investments for such an efficient but costly who can choose the power supplier and have the technical capacity to solution. connect directly to available power network. All domestic clients are captive consumers, as they do not have the technical capability to choose Power Sector and connect directly to the power network. Some economic agents are The main electricity supplier in Ploesti is Electrica Furnizare Muntenia captive consumers, and use the tariffs set by ANRE – the Romanian Energy Nord. The company is supplying electricity to six counties: Prahova, Brăila, Regulatory Authority. ANRE is regulating the tariffs for captive consumers Galați, Dâmbovița, Buzău, and Vrancea. The power load for the entire – 45% of the electricity market in Romania. Muntenia Nord region and its six counties is 1,000 MW, of which 30% is A little over 92,000 clients are the domestic users or captive the peak load for Prahova County only (around 300 MW). Electrica consumers from residential buildings and owners’ associations, who are consuming about 240,000 MWh annually, with an average monthly consumption of a little over 200 kWh. The difference up to 589,318 MWh 30 is made of the power consumption of eligible consumers, who can choose installed on hospitals and kindergartens to produce hot water. Prahova their energy provider and the electricity tariffs. County has exhausted all available spots for installing hydro-based energy plants. In Romania, the energy produced from wind energy is the cheapest Electric Pillars renewable, requiring an investment of EUR 1.1 million to produce 1 MW. The most expensive energy is produced from hydro-power sources, where the cost of production for 1 MW may be anywhere between EUR 4 to 5 million. Photovoltaic energy is much cheaper than hydro-power, with an initial capital investment of EUR 1.5 million to produce 1 MW electricity. Water Sector Potable water The water sector in Ploiești is split between a private and a public operator. The potable water sector is managed by a private company, Apa Nova, while the waste water stays with the public sector, Regia Autonomă de Servicii Publice (RASP). The two companies are interconnected as Apa Nova is collecting the money for water services from the population and then it pays the public company. The potable water service of Ploiești has been taken into concession by Apa Nova. Currently, administrative wise the water service is under the City Hall, but is managed by Apa Nova. ApaNova is a private In 2012, Electrica Furnizare purchased 124,496 kWh at the market price company, with 73% shares from Veolia, a French public utility operator, for RON 0.59/kWh, and 705,000 kWh for RON 0.51/kWh, the regulated and 27% shares from City Hall Ploiești. Veolia is also the main shareholder price by ANRE. The price of electricity is depending on consumption, time in Dalkia Termo Prahova, the district heating operator in Ploiești. Apa of day, type of electricity, level of voltage, and type of consumer. For Nova is the potable water provider in Ploiești since 1997, and has a 25- domestic consumers the tariff may range from RON 0.2810 to RON 0.4830 year contract with the City Hall to operate the water system in the city per kWh. People with low income pay the “social tariff”, a lower tariff for until 2022. electricity. Starting in November 2005, the social tariff is applying only to The water distribution network has approximately 400 kilometers domestic consumers with a monthly income less than or equal to the of pipeline which are the property of the City Hall. There are 18 minimum wage. The average tariff for economic agents and industrial underground water sources, 38 underground and over-ground pumps in consumers is ranging between RON 0.5436 and RON 0.878 per kWh. the city with 40 to 150 water table depth, and four reservoirs. For There is no significant renewable energy project in Ploiești city. instance, the main water pump station, called “Stația 23 August,” has 4 However, there are two photovoltaic parks in Prahova County with an large pumps; three pumps have an electric capacity of 132 kWh each, installed capacity of 18 MW and 40 MW, respectively. The county and while one pumps runs on 90 kWh. Each pump delivers 1,000 cubic meter Electrica issued permits for a total of 100 MW installed capacity. A of water per hour. The raw water goes into the reservoir and then it gets program is under implementation to install 3 KW photovoltaic capacities chlorinated before it is pumped. The chlorine content in the water is 0.5 on each building in rural areas, in order to enable them to have electricity mg/ per liter. and hot water available at any time. So far, solar panels have been 31 The “23 August” Water Treatment Plant in Ploiești The annual water production for Ploiești is a little over 17 million of cubic meters, for which 4,080,000 kWh is used. The energy expenditure accounts for a small amount of the budget – only 5%. On average, approximately 0.24 kWh is necessary to produce one cubic meter of drinking water. This figure puts Ploiești in the lower side of the TRACE database, among the cities with the most efficient potable water system. From this perspective, Ploiești has a similar performance as Brașov, and it is doing better than other cities with similar Human Development Index, such as Cluj-Napoca and Vienna. Energy density for potable water production (kWh/m3) The maximum water capacity in the main reservoir is 20,000 cubic meters per day, a figure higher than the daily water supply in the city (between 14,000 to 15,000 cubic meters). When the big reservoir needs to be cleaned up, another reservoir with a daily capacity of 10,000 cubic meters of water is used. After the chlorine treatment the level of water pressure in the reservoir is at 3.4 bars. The water treatment plant is situated 40 meters above the city surface level. Water is brought to the city by gravity, without using any pumping. By the time water reaches the city with free flow, the pressure increases to 7.4 bars, which is more than enough to raise water vertically up to the 31 meters high water storage tanks. Although the network is owned by the City Hall, if something goes wrong with the pipelines or there is a leakage in the network, it is The city is doing also quite well in terms of water consumption, with 154 Apa Nova’s responsibility to fix the problem. The modernization of the liters of water per capita. Ploiești is performing similar to Brașov, and water system included the installation of water meters within the entire better than most of the cities with similar climate in the TRACE database, network. According to the agreement between Apa Nova and City Hall such as Cluj, Gaziantep, or Sarajevo. Comparing to other cities, the losses Ploiești, 20% of revenue is used for investment in the pipeline network in the water system in the city are not too high. With 30% percent loss in and 80% is used to cover part of the cost of equipment modernization, the system, Ploiești is performing better than most cities with similar safety, and maintenance. As a private company, Apa Nova does not have climate, including Bratislava, București or Pristina. At the same, it is the direct access to EU funds. The company is using a SCADA system to best performance among all seven growth poles in Romania. However, monitor water supply in the distribution network and perform upstream there is room for improvement, as some European cities, like Warsaw and water pressure and distribution analysis. At the end-users (the Kiev have even lower water losses. downstream level) the company is considering installing an automatic pressure valve system in order to manage and monitor water pressure. 32 Percentage of non-revenue water A good point is that the city residents are paying the water bills in time and so the collection of bills is almost 100%. However, keeping the tariffs at this level turns out to be a difficult task for the company. If Apa Nova could raise the tariffs by a few percentage points, then the company may be able to generate more funds necessary to improve network. The water tariffs can be adjusted twice a year with the City Hall approval. However, the city government is reluctant to ask people to pay more for water services. In order to improve the water loss figure, Ploiești municipality and the private company need to further invest in the water network. A large project of around EUR 140 million from European funds covering the water sector in Prahova County is currently under implementation. The project aims to improve and expand the water utility and sewage services to all localities in the county, and is implemented by Hidro Prahova, the The tariffs for water are based on expenditure related to production and water company under Prahova County Council catering water to a large distribution. In 2012, the households in Ploiești used to pay RON 2.26 part of the county including several municipalities. Prahova County without VAT per cubic meter of potable water, and RON 1.1 RON for one Council and the city managers of Ploiești have done efforts to include Apa cubic meter of waste water. At the beginning of 2013, the water tariffs Nova in this project, but because the major shareholder is a private entity went slightly up. Now people in Ploiești pay RON 2.61 for a cubic meter of the company could not qualify. Anyway, it is expected that the project will potable water. The water tariffs are in the lower range compared to other reduce the losses of Hidro Prahova, and thus, reduce the operating cost. growth poles (see table below). After completing the project, 96% of the population of Prahova County will be connected to water and sanitation services. Water tariffs in 2013 - RON/cubic meter (without VAT) Wastewater Currently, the wastewater treatment sector is coordinated by Regia Autonomă de Servicii Publice Ploiești (RASP), an autonomous public entity under the Ploiești municipality. RASP is supervising the public services in the city, including waste water, street lighting and solid waste sectors. The waste water treatment plant is located on the city outskirts. The new facility is a project of EUR 26 million, currently under construction, and it is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2013. The new waste water plant is developed in the proximity of the old facility, and it spans over 20 hectares of land. Most of the funds necessary for this project come from the Ministry of Environment, with a small financial contribution from the city government. When completed, the new waste Source: www.anrsc.ro 33 water treatment plant will be one of the most modern and efficient TRACE database, doing far better than other European cities, including facilities in the country. Banja Luka or Gaziantep. Also, it is one of the most efficient wastewater The most noteworthy aspect about the new plant is that the systems among the seven growth poles. facility will be able to produce biogas. The waste water will be collected in two large reservoirs and then it will go through a filtration system that has Wastewater tariffs in 2012 (RON/cubic meter without VAT) capacity to generate energy from methane/biogas and produce electricity. Running the biogas plant would be a function of how efficient the collection of sewage/mud will be. Wastewater basin (left) and biogas digester (right) at the new wastewater treatment plant Source: www.anrsc.ro Energy Density for Wastewater Treatment (kWh/m3) Until 2007, the waste water plant was managed by Apa Nova, the private utility company. In 2007, the facility had been taken over by the City Hall and given to RASP. Today, RASP and Apa Nova are engaged in a commercial relationship. In 2012, Apa Nova paid RON 0.24 per cubic meter of water utility for sewage, and charged RON 0.99 per cubic meter from clients without VAT, which is one of the lowest tariffs among the seven growth poles. However, ever since the waste water treatment plant was taken away from Apa Nova, the company lost RON 14.5 million over the last six year, diminishing considerably the company’s annual revenues. The waste water sector is very efficient because it does require a small amount of energy, only 0.08 kWh for treating one cubic meter of water. Thus, Ploiești ranks among the most efficient cities within the 34 According to the agreement signed between Apa Nova and City Hall Waste per capita (kg/capita) Ploiești, the new waste water treatment facility should return back to the private water operator, once the construction of new plant is completed. On the other hand, local authorities are confident that the public company will be managing the facility for the next five years, being responsible for monitoring and supervising of the waste water related activities. Solid Waste The solid waste system in Ploiești is managed by the private sector through two companies: one is in charge with the collection of solid waste, and the other is operating the landfill. Since 2010, the solid waste collection in Ploiești is managed by Rosal, a private company operating in several cities in Romania. Previously, the collection was done by Vitalia, a privately held company which originally belonged to French group with the same name operating in the public service sectors. Vitalia is currently The selective collection process is done at two levels, at the households managing and operating the eco-framed solid waste landfill located in and at residential buildings. Households receive special bags to separate Boldești-Scăeni, about 15 kilometers far from the city. the plastic bottles, paper and metal cans from organic waste then Rosal is In 2012, the amount of solid waste generated by domestic clients picking up these bags directly from the houses. (only population, without economic agents or industry) was a little over 57 million kilograms. The annual solid waste generated per capita in Ploiești Percentage of solid waste recycled is less than 300 kilograms; thus, the capital of Prahova County is performing far better than most of the cities in the TRACE database with similar climate. The figure is comparable to Timișoara and Craiova, and it is twice as low as the solid waste generation per capita in Iași or Constanța. The selective collection started at the beginning of 2012, and is done at the source. No selective collection is done at the solid waste landfill. One year after the selective collection was implemented it already showed impressive results – now a quarter of the solid waste is recycled. Comparing to other cities with comparable climate within the TRACE data base Ploiești is performing quite well in this respect. For example, the rate of recycled waste collected in Ploiești is higher than of other cities in the region like București, Warsaw, or Banja Luka. Ploiești has also the second highest percentage of recyclable waste among the growth poles. In residential buildings people put the recycled waste in bags available on each floor, and then they drop them in special containers of different colors placed in designated locations. Most of these containers are 35 located near the residential buildings. There are 260 selective collection construction waste, neither indication where the waste should be points available in the city where people can dump paper, glass, and dumped, or what are the related tariffs. The Local Council wants to pass a plastic bottles. In addition, there are 39 underground platforms buried in law requiring the constructer or the construction companies to clearly the ground, with only the lid hanging outside. People bring the trash bags specify, prior to construction activities, what they plan to do with the to the buried containers, open the lid and drop the waste bags into the construction/demolition waste and where such waste is going to be platforms that have a depth of few meters. deposited. The selective collection rate is higher for individual homes than in ROSAL is operating with 16 trucks that require approximately residential buildings. The City Hall offers incentives to encourage people 28,000 liters of diesel every month. The amount of solid waste collected to separate recycled waste from organic waste in residential building by yearly by Rosal is between 60,000 to 80,000 tons, including waste giving them 20% discount in collection fee if they meet the minimum generated by economic agents. In 2012 the amount of solid waste the amount of collected recycled waste of 3.6 km per person per month. company dumped at Vitalia landfill amounted to 77,080 tons, which Information campaigns have been going on in the city since 2012 included waste collected from non-resident clients. aiming to raise awareness among population to embrace the selective Since 2001 the landfill at Boldești-Scăeni situated 15 kilometers collection system and separate plastic bottles, metallic cans, and papers from Ploiești is operated by Vitalia. The company owns the 15 hectares of from organic waste. land, of which 13 hectares are the cells where the solid waste is dumped and deposited. The landfill has six cells; currently, three of them are full Buried solid waste platforms (left) and special containers for selective and one is used at 50% capacity. collection (right) Vitalia Landfill at Boldești-Scăeni People responded very well to these initiatives and the high selective collection rate in the city speaks for itself. The tariff for the collection of Overall, the landfill can deposit 3 million tons; as of now, 1.2 million tons the solid waste is 6 RON per person per month. have been already dumped at the facility. The landfill is managing around The city government is taking steps to tackle the issue of 80% of the waste collected in Prahova County, including the amount of construction waste resulted from construction sites, demolitions and solid waste collected in Ploiești by Rosal. The landfill is catering for other related activities. As of now, there is no regulation with regard to 36 600,000 people. Approximately 130,000 tons are dumped annually at the Truck on the weighting facility at the landfill in Boldești-Scăeni landfill at a tipping fee of RON 59.22 per ton. Vitalia landfill has the potential to produce biogas. A project of 2 EUR million is being developed nowadays to this end. Initially, the installed capacity for producing biogas will be of 0.6 MW, and later it will increase to 1 MW. The biogas plant will be operational sometimes in 2013. Vitalia is planning to further invest several millions of Euros to produce 6 to 8 MW of electricity and thermal energy through a gasification process. The cost of producing 1 kWh of biogas is less costly than that of producing energy from other renewable sources. The landfill is one of the most advanced and well equipped facilities as such in Eastern Europe. The entire activity at the landfill is automated, performed by high technology equipment. Trucks carrying the trash are weighted at the gate, and instantly the operator is issuing the papers indicating the date and the amount of waste dumped. Monitoring of the solid waste dumped at the landfill is computerized, which allows the company to have reliable records on the solid waste deposited in the facility. Vitalia is operating the landfill with 6-8 trucks including a Leachate before (right) and after (left) treatment at Vitalia’s leachate compactor and a few large trucks. Currently, there is no sorting station. plant Such a facility is included in the solid waste master Plan, and is going to be built in the proximity of the landfill. The landfill has a reverse osmosis leachate treatment plant – a facility allowing the treatment of water for which the company invested approximately EUR 650,000 without VAT. The leachate treatment plant has a processing capacity of 3 cubic meters per hour and 70% recovery rate, while the rest of 30% is re-injected. The Vitalia landfill will be included in the integrated solid waste management plan of Prahova County. The solid waste master plan is coordinated by the Prahova County Council through Termoelectrica, a public company owned by Prahova County. Termoelectrica is managing the other eco-framed landfill in Prahova County at Vălenii de Munte, a facility established in 2005. The landfill is catering for less than a quarter of the population in the county, collecting and dumping 48,000 tons of solid waste annually. It is equipped with a facility to produce a small quantity of energy through gasification process; but because the flow of sludge is not constant the gas concentration is not too high either. 37 The Master Plan is a sophisticated project of EUR 43 million funded from extended after the initial contract expires. The company is responsible for EU funds through Environment Operational Program, spanning over a the entire operation process, from production to distribution of heat in period of 30 years. The contract for the solid waste plan was expected to Ploiești in combined heat and power (CHP) system. The plant is located at be signed in 2013, and then a tender will be organized to choose the Brazi, 10 kilometers far from the city. The plant is the property of the city operator. The plan will include two transfer stations - one at Vălenii de government, while the network belongs to the Prahova County Council. Munte and one at Boldești-Scăeni – a sorting station at Boldești-Scăeni, in Dalkia Romania has been present in Romania since 1992, and currently is addition to the existing fixed station available at Termoelectrica, three operating the district heating systems in four cities and the Polytechnic compost stations (one at Boldești-Scăeni and two facilities at Urlați), and a University of București. The overall turnover for 2011 accounted for EUR Mechanical and Biological Treatment Plant at Vălenii de Munte. The solid 67 million, while the total investments amounted to over EUR 32 million waste management policy requires the tariffs for collection and dumping since early 90s, of which almost two thirds targeted the rehabilitation of to be affordable and so the tariffs will be set accordingly. the district heating system in Ploiești. For instance, new gas turbine at the In addition to the two landfills at Boldești -Scăeni and Vălenii de thermal heating center at Brazi was put into operation in 2010 as part of Munte there is another private landfill in the county, owned by the oil RON 53 million projects intended to improve efficiency of heat company Rompetrol, and an incinerator for hazardous waste (including production. waste generated by hospitals), which is one of the seven facilities as such Dalkia Termo Prahova is operating the primary and secondary in the country. heating network in Ploiești. The company operated the heating plants The Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the field of solid waste in even before the concession agreement was signed in 2004. Today, the Prahova County is an example that such arrangements can work in company is responsible for the entire process, from production to Romania. However, there remains much to be done as to improve the distribution of heat and hot water in co-generation to collection of bills. situation. The PPP model is not working the way it should because the Dalkia is supplying heat and hot water to 57,855 residential building legal framework is deficient and has some provisions that fail to clearly apartments – of a total of around 64,000 such apartments in Ploiești. The define the role of private and public entities, and how they should relate company is catering to 105,000 people, almost half of the population of to each other. On the other hand, the most problematic factor is the the city. In addition, the company is providing heat to 33 municipal duration of the PPP, and its operating timeframe. Banks are not willing to buildings and 756 economic agents. The client structure is as following: give loans for short term projects, such as 3 to 5 years, and prefer projects 66.9% domestic, 31.65% industrial, economic agents and others, and only spanning a longer period of time. 1.38 % of the customers are public buildings. The district heating system is made up of three large boilers that District Heating operate on gas and heavy fuel with a total installed capacity of 840 MW The district heating sector in Ploiești is managed by Dalkia Termo Prahova, thermal, and three turbines of a total 260 MW electrical installed capacity a private company with 87.2% shares from Dalkia Romania which is part of to produce hot water. There is a natural gas-based turbine that can Veolia, a French company very active in services and utility areas produce 25 MW electrical and 27MW thermal. Usually, the turbine is traditionally managed by public authorities. The rest of 12.8% shares are running for an average of 9 months a year, using 600,000 cubic meters of equally divided between City Hall Ploiești and Prahova County Council. natural gas to produce hot water. In addition, the thermal points (sub- Dalkia is operating the district heating of Ploiești since 2004, when a plants) in Ploiești produce 475 MW thermal. The plants operate on natural concession contract with City Hall Ploiești and Prahova County has been gas and coal and can use a mix technique, as they can switch from one signed for 15 years. The agreement is valid until 2019, and it can be type of fuel to another. The natural gas consumption in winter time is three times higher than in the summer. 38 New radiators replaced some of the old ones Dalkia Termo Plant at Brazi Source: www.iploiești.ro The length of the primary network is 62 kilometers, of which 62% is underground and 38% above ground. The length of the secondary network is 92 kilometers. Most of the network was built in the 1960s. As of today, half of the 88 sub-plants have been modernized. According to the contract signed in 2004 with the local public administration, Dalkia The energy savings and lower fuel consumption have resulted in the must invest EUR 25 million in the modernization of the network and improvement of the overall system’s performance, including boilers and modern equipment to increase efficiency of the system. Until 2010 the turbines. For instance, the energy performance of the turbine in the cold company invested EUR 21 million aimed at improving the overall season went up from 36.8 % in 2004 to over 43% in 2010, while the efficiency of the system. The replacement of eight kilometers of pipelines degree of continuity of the heat supply increased from 94.02% in 2004 to in 2004 helped the efficiency of the system improve significantly, and almost 100% in 2011. since 2004 30% less gas was used in the system. Now the district heating plant can reach 75% efficiency when the Before the efficiency program was completed 300 cubic meters outside temperature is 0 Celsius and a maximum efficiency of 76% when were needed to produce 1 Gcal of heat, against only 200 of cubic meters the temperature is going up to 4 degrees Celsius. The maximum required today to prepare the same amount of heat. Savings have also temperature of hot water is 110 degrees Celsius. During Communist times been made with regard to water and electricity consumption. From 2005 it used to be 120 Celsius. to 2010 the consumption of hot water went down by more than 50%, The rehabilitation and modernization of the network and the from almost 250,000 tons per year to a little over 100,000 tons per year. energy efficiency programs developed in the past years are the main Similarly, the electricity consumption has been reduced drastically from reasons behind the highly competitive heat price. 100,000 MWhe in 2005 to 60,000 MWhe in 2010. 39 Inside the co-generation plant at Dalkia The heat is distributed during the cold season, approximately five months a year, and it is supplied only after the temperature in the night time drops to 10 Celsius for three consecutive nights. The hot water/heat distribution system is done vertically. In this case, if a client (apartment) is not paying the bill on time, then the entire residential building may face consequences, including clients who paid their bills on time. The company may decide to disconnect the building from the district heating system and so the supply of hot water and heat is put on hold to all apartments until the due payments are made. The thermal rehabilitation of hundreds of apartments in Ploiești is helping maintain a higher level of comfort in old residential building, where people used to suffer from cold and poor services in the past. However, despite efforts that have been made to improve its efficiency and keep the heat price at the lowest level in Romania, the district heating system in Ploiești is facing challenges. Perhaps the main problems are the heat losses due to hot water leakages in the network. The production cost of RON 224.33/Gcal is the lowest in the country, a Currently, the technical and commercial loss of the system is accounting fact that allows Dalkia to keep the heat tariffs down. In 2012, the for 25%. The figure is among the highest in the TRACE database comparing domestic consumers in Ploiești paid the lowest price for heat in the to other European cities that operate district heating systems and have a country, RON 160/Gcal, including subsidies from the City Hall. The lower level of heat losses, such as Tallinn, Skopje or Budapesta. But economic agents and public institution pay RON 244/Gcal, including VAT. comparing to most cities in Romania, including other growth poles, like Brașov and Cluj-Napoca, Ploiești is performing far better. Heat tariff in 2012 – RON /Gcal Thermal insulation work of a residential building in Ploiești Source: www.evz.ro 40 The heat loss is affecting the hot water/ heat revenue collection. The main culprit of these losses is the leakage in the network and the age of the pipelines. Percent of heat loss from the network Although the average age of the district heating network in Ploiești is 32.3 years, which is roughly smaller than some of other similar networks in the country, the pipelines have been made with poor quality materials. Despite the millions of euro the company invested in different programs aimed at increasing efficiency of the systems, the leakages problem in the network remains unresolved. Dalkia Termo Prahova has a SCADA system, but the tool cannot identify the problems that may occur on the network. The last assessment with regard to leakages on the network has been performed in 2010. 41 42 Energy Efficiency Recommendations private sector and the city government. The next sector with the second highest potential of energy saving is “Private Vehicles”, although the level TRACE is a tool that allows the estimation of energy savings potential in of city control of this sector is quite limited. “Municipal Buildings” where different city service areas by benchmarking the performance of a city education and health care facilities are under the city government control against other cities with similar characteristics, such as climate, have a good energy saving potential. “Public Transport” is another population, or Human Development Index. For example, energy important sector where the municipality has already invested in recent consumption per street light pole in Ploiești was compared to similar years, and where the level of local control is quite high. The next sector of consumption of other cities within the TRACE data base with similar importance with a good potential of energy savings that have been climate. The energy savings potential with regard to street lighting in highlighted by TRACE is “Street Lighting”, which is under local municipality Ploiești was calculated using a method that factored in the cities that control. As far as “Potable Water”, “Solid Waste Management”, and performed better than the city, and the degree to which these cities “Wastewater”, these have a small reduced energy savings potential – performed better. The more information is available in the TRACE primarily because energy efficiency improvements have already been database, the better results it can provide. Currently, TRACE has data on done in recent years or are on-going, and because they are under the almost 100 cities, which generally allows for good comparisons. private sector (solid waste and potable water) with limited control from The energy saving potential is also determined by another key the city authority. factor, i.e., the level of local control. The more control local public authorities have over a particular service area, the higher the energy Sector prioritization saving potential. In Ploiești some public utility services are managed by the city itself, whereas some others stay with the private sector or they are regulated at the national level. Solid waste, including the landfill operation, is managed by the private sector, and so the city of Ploiești does not have any significant saying in this matter. The potable water sector and the district heating are managed through Private Public Partnerships where the private sector is the major stakeholder. The city has also a very little influence over the energy sector, as policies and regulations are decided by the Government at the national level. In addition, another service area where the local level of control was considered pretty low is “Private Vehicles”. In this sector the policies and decisions are taken by the Government, with limited scope for local involvement. After the saving potential for each sector was calculated, TRACE performed a sector prioritization automatically, based on the amount of savings potential. The sectors with the largest energy savings potential in All priorities identified by TRACE were discussed with local officials to Ploiești are “District Heating”, “Private Vehicles”,” Municipal Buildings”, select a number of energy efficiency priorities for the municipality. and “Public Transport”. “District Heating” is the sector with the highest Overall, a number of eight recommendations were selected by local potential of energy efficiency gains, even if this field is controlled by both authorities. These recommendations will be discussed in more detail in the next sections. 43 From the get-go it has to be mentioned that all recommendations Energy Efficiency and Strategy Action Plan made in this section should be seen as indicative, not as normative. While One of the most important recommendations made through TRACE to the the TRACE tool enables a quick overview of key energy efficiency issues Ploiești public administration was an Energy Efficiency and Strategy Action within a municipality, it does not provide an in-depth analysis of each Plan for the city. Ploiești has already signed the Covenant of Mayors on sector. For example, in most studied cities, the sector with the highest September 7, 2012, and currently the municipality is working on preparing energy savings potential was district heating. Obviously, achieving higher the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The International Projects savings in this sector usually also entail high costs. These costs may Departments within the City Hall is coordinating the preparation of the outweigh potential benefits, and may not warrant investments in the SEAP, hoping that the document will be ready for submission to the sector. Also, if people continue to de-branch themselves from the system, European Commission by the end of 2013. any investments done to rehabilitate the network may be nothing more The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement than wasted money. that brings together local and regional authorities committed to increase Similarly, urban transport recommendations should ideally have the energy efficiency of their municipalities, as well as the use of an urban mobility plan at their foundation (EBRD is in fact supposed to renewable energy resources. The main target this process is to reduce prepare mobility plans for all seven growth poles and Bucharest). The local greenhouse emissions by 20% by 2020. The Covenant of Mayors was recommendations made in this report are general in nature and draw on a launched in 2008 after the EU Climate and Energy Package was adopted. pre-defined list of proposed interventions in the TRACE tool. These The movement supports sustainable development efforts taken by local recommendations should be viewed by local authorities as an indication authorities towards making their localities more climate friendly. of what could be done to improve their city’s energy performance and reduce the city’s energy bill. The decision to actually implement a recommendation or not should be done only after a comprehensive feasibility study is completed. For example, the development of a bike network may have the adverse effect of reducing the share of people who use public transport instead of reducing the number of people who commute by private vehicles. Lastly, energy efficiency interventions should not be viewed or conceived in a vacuum. Often, energy efficiency interventions have benefits that cross sectors. For example, improving the public transport network, will not only encourage a more energy efficient commuting options, but it could also improve quality of life, help boost local economies, and enable poor and marginalized communities better access to opportunities. In the same vein, interventions that aim to improve the Source: www.europa.eu energy efficiency of a municipal building could be done in tandem with retrofits that make these buildings more resilient to disasters. After the mayor signs the Covenant of Mayors, the local government takes steps to translate the political commitments into actions and concrete measures. A first step in this regard is the preparation of the Baseline Emission Inventory. One year after the Covenant of the Mayors was signed, the municipality must submit the action plan outlining the key 44 actions the city plans to undertake with regard to reducing greenhouse representatives from across the municipality and other groups who will be emissions. Apart from reducing the greenhouse emissions, the results of involved in the execution of the strategy, but also the stakeholders who the signatories’ actions have a socio-economic dimension too. The will be affected by the strategy. measures taken by the municipalities can lead to the creation of jobs, a Achieving the reduction of greenhouse emissions specified in the healthier environment, and a better quality of life. At the same time, plan requires careful monitoring, in order to ensure that intermediate these actions can help enhance the economic competitiveness of the city. targets are reached and that progress is being made towards attaining the Not in the least, the plan can also open ways to a greater local energy overall strategy goals. A carefully crafted monitoring plan is necessary, as independence. well as a host of performance indicators that can be tracked at regular As of April 2013, there were 4,522 signatories to the Covenant of intervals. All measures must be accompanied by targets that should Mayors, comprising more than 166 million inhabitants across Europe. indicate the level of expected progress over a given timeline, together More than half of the signatory cities have submitted their SEAPs to the with a simple but effective monitoring plan. Monitoring should take into European Commission. 61 small and large cities from Romania have consideration, among other things, performance indicators, means of signed the political commitment to reduce the energy consumption by measurement and validating measuring processes, a schedule for 2020; of these, 22 municipalities have submitted their energy action plans measurement activity, assignment of responsibilities, and means of to the Covenant of Mayors. So far, eleven action plans have been auditing performance. approved by the Covenant of Mayors, namely the SEAPs of Moinești, The indicators covered by TRACE offer a very good starting point, Vaslui, Alba Iulia, Bistrița, Mizil, Slobozia, Brașov, Arad, Aiud, Râmnicu with a number of energy efficiency key performance indicators - public Vâlcea şi Baia Mare. and private transport, municipal buildings, street lighting, water & Each SEAP should include few important sections targeting the wastewater and solid waste - that can be used to monitor the city’s energy consumption in the public service areas, including district heating, energy performance. But the action plan should not be limited to only transport, municipal buildings, street lighting, and solid waste. The these indicators. Other indicators could be also added to the list, measures taken in each of these sectors should include certain indicators, including, but not limited to those on energy efficiency in private buildings such as total city energy use, total efficiency savings achieved from energy and industrial enterprises. efficiency initiatives, and percentage of energy efficiency initiatives for which data is collected every year. The strategy should put together Some of the priority sectors for SEAP measurable and realistic targets, set out well defined timeframes, and clearly assign responsibilities. The plan should outline what specific actions should be taken in each of the targeted public service sectors to reduce energy consumption and what are the related projects that should be implemented in this regard. Ideally, the plan should state the potential amount of greenhouse emissions that would be reduced as a result of the implementation of Sources: www.realitatea.net; www.ziarul-prahovean.ro; www.energyonline.ro each project, together with the costs incurred, and the timeframe for the implementation of such projects. Not in the least, the action plan should The plan would open the way to translate various initiatives into a mention the people within the local public administration responsible coherent plan for city-wide energy efficiency. At the end of the day, the with the monitoring and implementation of the plan. The energy strategy can be used as an internal and external promotion tool for the efficiency strategy for the city should be developed collaboratively by city to gain support for their future work on energy efficiency. 45 Several cities in Europe and around the world have their energy Dalkia plant at Brazi action plans that set clear targets on how to reduce energy consumption, and the measures that should be implemented to help the municipalities meet the goals set in the energy action plan. For instance, in order to reduce the energy consumption by 30% by 2015, the City of Philadelphia has adopted a number of measures that helped the municipality make tremendous progress. These measures included a wide range of activities from retrofitting municipal buildings, replacing the municipal vehicle fleet, encouraging conservation among employees, installing LED light-bulbs, developing energy efficiency building guidelines to providing tax incentives to energy efficiency star performers, creating neighborhood competitions to reduce energy use, developing a citywide energy efficiency marketing campaign, and building energy efficient public Source: www.dalkia.ro housing. The amount of heat distributed annually in Ploiești does not have any District Heating Maintenance and Upgrade major fluctuations either. For example, the company sold 501,198 Gcal in Among the first recommendations made by TRACE pertains to the district 2008, 505,446 Gcal in the following year, and then a slightly larger amount 33 heating system. Operated by a private company, the district heating in 2010, i.e., 522,266 Gcal . The good performance of the system is sector in Ploiești is one of the most dynamic and profitable in a country primarily the result of a series of rehabilitation and upgrading works in the where most of the systems supplying heat and hot water are running last decade that included the upgrading of the distribution networks and inefficiently. Losses incurred because of old and obsolete networks and pipelines, and the replacement of worn-out networks. because of leakages in poorly maintained pipelines lead to people paying However, despite of the good work the company and the city a high price for heating and hot water. government have done with regard to the modernization of the district People who live in old residential buildings in Ploiești pay only heating network, there remains more work to be done. The district RON 180 per Gcal, the lowest price for heat in Romania. The investments heating plant was built in 1965 and by now most pipelines are worn out the district heating operator made in the last years in the modernization and need to be replaced. The company intends to also focus on increasing and upgrading of the network makes the district heating system among the performance of the boilers and reducing losses in the primary the most efficient in the country. The company employs 400 people and network. runs on profit, with a turnover in 2012 of EUR 58 million. Dalkia is committed to further modernize the district heating The number of apartments connected to the main plant and sub- network in Ploiești and, thus, improve the quality of the services to the plants supplying hot water and heat to the customers in Ploiești remained population. For the next five years Dalkia plans to tackle a large project quite stable in the last years, unlike in other cities where a large number regarding the modernization of some parts of the distribution network in of people disconnected from district heating companies and switched to the city. It is an ambitious project that requires EUR 23.3 million micro-unit heating plants. 33 These figures are according to the National Institute of Statistics. 46 investments for the primary network and another EUR 6 million for the Residential buildings in Mihai Bravu neighborhood in Ploiești secondary network. Dalkia and the City Hall will have to join efforts to draft the financial proposal in the next period of time. Dalkia’s modern plant Source: www.panoramio.ro According to Dalkia, the city government should consider measures to discourage disconnections from the system. One way to do this could be by implementing a unitary area which should not allow installation of During the first year of the implementation of the project 18 kilometers of micro-heating units in new residential complexes if a district heating network in the Mihai Bravu neighborhood will be modernized, then the connection is available. If there is a district heating network available in following year the target will shift towards the hot water pipelines in the the area the new building should connect to the existing network. Dalkia is downtown area. Between 2015 and 2018 the project will focus on also analyzing the feasibility of introducing a RON 10 per Gcal tax for a different neighborhoods in the city. period of five years. Another project the district heating company is looking at is the On the other hand, as a private company it has certain economic optimization of the hot water distribution network, with a total value of constraints to perform well and make profit. To this end, Dalkia should be RON 24 million. Initially, a pilot project of RON 1.5 million targeting three able to plan ahead for the medium and long term, not only for the next hot water substations and connectors located inside residential buildings couple of years. From this perspective, a concession contract with the city will be developed. Upon completion of the project the quality of the government over a longer period of time would give the company the services as well as the comfort of the consumers inside their apartments is stability the company needs in order to plan its business for the long run. expected to improve considerably. In order to carry out the project, Dalkia A Public Private Partnership between Dalkia and the City Hall for a long and the city government must enter into a partnership, draft the proposal period of time will not only help the company plan ahead its long-term and identify financial resources. strategy, but would also provide the incentives to continue investing in Investments will be carried through with the support of local and the district heating system. national initiatives. The city government may continue providing support to the district heating network and make efforts to ensure its long-term sustainability. 47 Urban Transport easier, faster, more comfortable, and more convenient to reach public TRACE identified the urban public transporation as a sector with a transport infrastructure – especially in areas outside the city center. significant potential for energy efficiency gains in Ploiești. The municipality has already a number of forward thinking initiatives with regard to public Downtown Ploiești transportation, such as replacing old rolling stocks with less polluting and more efficient vehicles, and rehabilitating the tram network. The recommendations bellow fall within the scope of what the local public administration are alredy undertaking, or are planning to take on in the near future. These measures include: traffic restraint measures, parking restrain measures, improving the public transport network, and expanding the pedestrian network in the city. Non-Motorized Transport Modes One of the city’s priorities with regard to public transportation is to improve and expand the pedestrian network. Investing in non-motorized transportation modes has several benefits. From an energy efficiency Source: www.bing.com/maps perspective, the more people that walk or bike, translates into less people that use private vehicles, and consequently into less fuel consumption. Within the city center, it is particularly important to consider the Such investments also help raise the quality of life in cities, and they development of new pedestrian areas in addition to the already existing stimulate business development. For example, after Piața Muzeului in infrastructure. In the recent years a first clear zone of one square Cluj-Napoca was turned into a pedestrian area, not only did pedestrian kilometer was developed in the city’s historical center within the EU- traffic go up, but the number of businesses and business activity in the funded CIVITAS program, with the aim of lowering the level of greenhouse area also increased substantially. Today the pedestrian area in Cluj- emissions and noise in the downtown area. However, compared to other Napoca is gathering several leisure and entertainment places, such as cities in Romania (both larger and smaller) Ploiești ranks quite poorly in restaurants, bars, shops, and service stores, and it has become one of the terms of city space dedicated to pedestrians. As the aerial image above most attractive spots in the city. highlights, local authorities in Ploiești have created a number of good At the same time, one has to be careful that investments in non- quality pedestrian areas, but these are largely un-connected, and most of motorized transport options do not come at the expense of public them are resumed to patches of land in front of a number of significant transportation. For example, in Copenhagen, extensive investments in the public buildings in the city. Walking from one of these pedestrian areas to bicycle network have led to a net decrease in public transport ridership, another is sometimes a challenging feat. lowering the profitability of public transport operators. As such, it is For example, crossing the Republicii Boulevard, to get from Hotel important that investments in non-motorized transport options be closely Central to the Administrative Palace, may take a few minutes. Basically, coordinated with investments in public transportation. For example, new once has to wait at three stop signs, and get to the destination in a round- pedestrian and bike paths could ease access to public transportation hubs. about way. More specifically, new pedestrian and bike infrastructure should make it 48 Crossing the street in some areas may take a few minutes Undeground pedestrian passages in the center of Ploiești Source: www.bing.com/maps Source: Google Maps In addition to new pedestrian areas, large thoroughfares, like the Republicii Boulevard could accommodate dedicated bike lanes. Given that There is indeed an underground pedestrian passage two streets down the Ploiești is a flat city, it will be easier for people to take on biking, than in main artery, but again, this requires extra walking time, and it is generally cities with a hilly terrain. Of course, investments in dedicated bike lanes not considered very safe at night. will not turn Ploiești in a biking city over night, but experience from other The Republicii Boulevard is the city’s main artery, connecting the cities show, that people use such infrastructure once it is built. The city north of the city to the south, and it is also the city’s busiest thoroughfare. already has 8 kilometers of dedicated bike lanes. Sometime the bike lanes Consequently, local authorities are naturally inclined to enable traffic cannot be used because of the private cars that are parked along the along this main artery, by removing the number of stops cars have to stop lanes, blocking the access of bicyclists. at. This is good for private cars, but not so good for pedestrians. Given Investments in new bicycle infrastructure should also take into that Ploiești already has a ring road that feeds north-to-south traffic consideration traffic safety issues. People are unlikely to take this mode of around the city, and given that the city’s ring road system is currently transportation if they consider it to be unsafe. Bicyclists are often involved being upgraded with Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 funds, in traffic accidents as car drivers often do not notice them in traffic. To it pays to think about how car traffic could be further reduced on increase safety for those that cycle, new bike paths can be developed to Republicii Bulevard to the benefit of pedestrians and bicyclists. For have a ‘buffer” of parked cars (see image below). In effect, on -street example, some cities (like Piatra Neamț) have used ROP 2007-2013 funds parking spots can be designed so as to also accommodate bike lanes – to create underground road passages in the city center and develop particularly on the larger corridors in the city. pedestrian areas over them. Ploiești may do a cost-benefit analysis to determine the feasibility of such an investment too. 49 Parked cars protect bicyclists from 1989 to 2012, from around 102 million passenger to 54 million, while the number of people using trams decreased by a third, from around 30 million passengers in 1989, to 20 million in 2012. Given that Ploiești is the Parked cars largest city in Prahova County, this decrease in ridership in the county is likely to reflect the situation in the county capital too. The evolution of the rolling stock in Prahova between 1990 and 2011 Source: www.asce.org Public Transport Development The public transport system in Ploiești is well developed and has managed to weather the transition years better than other growth poles. For Source: National Institute of Statistics example, in Brașov and Constanța, the tramway network was completely removed, whereas local authorities in Ploiești have been able to maintain The dramatic increase in the number of private cars and the rising in the their system, and they have attracted EU funds through the ROP 2007- number of people who use private cars for their daily commutes have had 1013 for the rehabilitation and upgrade of a significant portion of the a negative effect on public transportation networks throughout Romania. network. Nonetheless, at the graph below indicates, the public system in Nonetheless, some cities have been successful in keeping this decrease in Ploiești has suffered some losses, with the absolute number of buses and public transport ridership by investing in the continuous improvement of trams in operation decreasing over the years. On the other hand, the city the system, by purchasing new rolling stock, by making the system more has introduced after 1989 two trolleybus lines – an investment that only attractive, more accessible, more comfortable and more convenient. To a few other cities in Romania have been able to make. As a result, the loss large extent, local authorities in Ploiești have managed to keep the public in bus and tram traffic was to some extent recuperated by the trolleybus transport system operational and in good shape, but much remains to be system. done. There is no exact data on public transport ridership evolution For one, in terms of energy efficiency of public transport, there from 1989 onwards, but the National Institute of Statistics data at the are two major things local authorities in Ploiești should focus on. On the county level shows a continued decrease in the number of people using one hand, they can invest in replacing the old rolling stock in the city, with public transport. For example, the number of people using buses halved newer more fuel efficient vehicles. Both for buses and trams, there are 50 new technologies that allow a lower consumption of Diesel and less use of end. They are now considering what type of vehicles they will indeed electricity. On the other hand, energy efficiency can go up by increasing purchase, given current and projected ridership numbers. ridership, which in effect means that a lower amount of energy is used to transport one passenger. Trolleybuses operating in Ploiești The current investments in rehabilitating and upgrading the public transport network are likely to make the system more attractive to people and may, eventually, increase ridership. Once the rehabilitation of the tramway line will be completed under the ROP 2007-2013, local authorities want to purchase new trams. Modern trams in Oradea Again, the purchase of public transport vehicles should become eligible for ROP funding in order to allow local authorities throughout Romania to operate at better efficiency standards and increase overall quality of the public transport system. Of course, the renewal of the public Source: www.bihorstiri.ro transportation fleet should go hand in hand with the continuous rehabilitation and modernization of the public transport infrastructure. It There is significant interest to finance the purchase of new rolling stock will be easy for most local authorities to simply spend ROP money on through the ROP 2014-2020, and this would mean that such expenditures purchasing new vehicles and doing no needed infrastructure investments. become eligible under the next ROP. The latter are harder to do than the former, and one cannot have one Local authorities are also interested in renewing the bus fleet. without the other. Currently, a third of the fleet is over 25 years old, and it is quite energy At the same time, the procurement of new rolling stock should intensive and polluting. Also, given the overall decrease in ridership, some also take life-cycle costs into consideration. More specifically, local buses may be too big now – i.e., they carry on average less people than authorities should not only consider the energy efficiency of vehicles, but their actual capacity, and less people than when they were originally also the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs over the life-time of the introduced into the city’s public transport system. Local authorities are vehicles. For example, some buses may be more energy efficient, but may thinking of replacing 50 old IKARUS buses with newer, energy efficient, require significantly more O&M costs which in the long term will affect the and low-pollution vehicles, and they have allocated EUR 10 million to this overall profitability of the system. 51 Modern bus in București At the same time, commuting for people living in peri-urban areas should be made easier by improving connective road infrastructure, and by possibly considering the development of park-and-ride facilities. These facilities allow people to drive their cars to the outskirts of the city, leave the cars in a parking structure, and from there take a public transport vehicle to the downtown area. Of course, a rigorous cost-benefit analysis should be done, as such investments can be quite expensive, and the proper locations should be chosen based on an in-depth analysis of traffic flows. Thus, park-and-ride facilities could be developed in areas that bring a lot of traffic into the city, as well as areas with a lot of traffic congestion. Parking Restraint Measures The dramatic rise in private vehicle ownership has led to increasingly Source: www.rtv.ro congested streets in all cities across the country. Ploiești has been no exception in this respect. The figure below shows that between 1990 and Another type of investments that was deemed necessary under the ROP 2011 the number of private vehicles has almost tripled. While the number Growth Poles policy was the extension of public transport infrastructure of cars has gone up, the number of parking spaces has not. This had led to to the metropolitan area. In effect, it was recognized that cities do not a situation where streets in the city center are often congested, and public exist and operate in a vacuum, but they are part of growing and ever spaces in apartment block neighborhoods are overrun with cars. evolving urban areas, with peri-urban communities being increasingly Local authorities in Ploiești have already taken a number of connected to the economy, services, and amenities of the center city. forward thinking parking measures, and they are planning to expand on Nonetheless, before expanding the public transport network system to those. For example, parking meters have been already installed in central peri-urban areas, local authorities have to first consider whether this can areas, and soon people will be able to pay the parking fee by using their be done in an efficient way. cell-phones. However, much remains to be done in this area. For one, One of the criteria that are often considered in such instances is local authorities have to think of how they can solve the parking situation the actual population density of the areas where public transport could be in the city center, where one is likely to have the highest number of cars expanded. Generally, areas with a density of over 30 people per hectare during working hours. Local authorities have set aside over 1,200 parking are considered to be a minimum condition for operating a bus system spaces in the city, and a new private parking structure was developed in profitably. Currently, none of the localities adjacent to Ploiești meet this the city center. criteria and density in all growth pole localities has been actually going It may pay however to do a more in-depth analysis of the parking down over the past decade. As such, for the 2014-2020 it does not situation in the city in order to determine what the actual needs are in this necessarily seem feasible to invest in expanding the Ploiești public respect, and how these needs can be met. For example, several cities in transport system to peri-urban areas. It would make more sense instead Romania have used ROP 2007-2013 funds to invest in the development of to continue the rehabilitation process of the existent network. underground parking structures, with the associated development of pedestrian spaces. 52 Number of private vehicles registered in Prahova County These high density neighborhoods were built predominantly in the peripheral areas of the city, and they were constructed with a relatively low car ownership rate in mind. Back in the communist days, few people actually owned a car. This situation has changed dramatically in recent years. As the image below highlights, all of the new cars that were added to the Ploiești overall rolling stock had to be parked somewhere in the city. Most often, they take over vital public spaces and pedestrian paths, literally chocking neighborhoods in a sea of cars. Parked cars leave no space for pedestrians Source: National Institute of Statistics Suceava is one example in this respect, where a new underground public parking facility has already been completed, and the on-street parking spaces have been converted into a pedestrian plaza. A similar investment Source: www.maps.google.ro could be considered in Ploiești too, given the relative dearth of parking spaces in the center city, and the lack of large pedestrian areas. Addressing such a situation can be done in several different ways. For one, local authorities should look into charging parking fees in residential New underground parking facility in Suceava neighborhoods too. Such a measure should, of course, take social aspects into consideration. However, most people that can afford a car should normally also afford to pay for parking it on public space – especially if the public space could be used for other productive uses (like a new shop), or as recreational space (e.g., parks, playgrounds, and sports facilities). Some cities, such as Cluj-Napoca, have decided to solve the parking situation by investing in neighborhood parking structures. However, this is done with limited local budget resources and without the collection of additional fees from those that clog streets and sidewalks. As Alain Bertaud notes in one of his articles, in most developed cities, cars Source: www.maps.google.ro take up on average, the same amount of space as an individual. However, the rent paid for parking these cars is much lower than the rent paid by In addition to parking solutions for the city center, local authorities have individuals. For example, the monthly parking rent usually costs nothing, to also identify parking options for the apartment block neighborhoods. 53 whereas people have to pay for the same amount of occupied space. In discouraging traffic in the downtown area. Reducing the speed zone for addition to introducing parking fees in high-density neighborhoods, one private cars may restrict the private transport and, instead, favor the flow has to also think about proper enforcement, to ensure that those that of public transport, cyclists and pedestrians in designated areas. Private take up parking spaces also pay for them. cars should be prohibited in a perimeter consisting of few streets, and if they cross into that area they should be penalized. At the same time, the Traffic Restraint Measures City Hall may think about setting up “no driving days” to educate and lead Ploiești has not only seen a dramatic rise in the number of registered by example. For instance, the private cars could be restricted in the vehicles within the city, but also a significant rise in through-traffic. The downtown area on a certain day of the month. city is situated along one of the busiest transport corridors in Romania – the corridor linking București to Brașov. This means that traffic has gone Municipal Buildings Audit and Retrofit up continuously in the city, and it is likely to continue to grow in the Cities in Romania have made significant advances in the delivery of public future. services when compared to other cities in the region. However, one area Several measures have been taken to improve traffic conditions, where many of them are lacking is in the proper management of energy such as the development and upgrade of the system of ring roads. consumption in municipal buildings. Most of the local authorities Nonetheless, it is important to perform an in-depth traffic study and interviewed for the TRACE work did not have a proper data base on the determine ways in which traffic conditions can be improved. The buildings they administered, with basic information such as the surface European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is planning to area of the buildings, the electricity and heating consumption. Although, undertake in partnership with the Ministry of Regional Development and local authorities pay the bills for all the energy consumed by these Public Administration mobility studies in all of Romania’s growth poles. buildings (schools, kindergartens, hospitals, cultural and sports facilities, These mobility studies will provide a concrete picture of the traffic and administrative buildings), there is little knowledge on how much is conditions in the growth poles, and will outline a number of specific spent on energy in these building, and how these expenditures could be measures that can be taken to alleviate traffic. lowered. Currently, the traffic management related to red lights and For the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme energy signaling in Ploiești is managed by a private company, UTI. In the efficiency will be an important pillar and local authorities could take upcoming future, the city authorities plan to install a SCADA system to advantage of grants that could help them lower their monthly energy bills. monitor the traffic in the city. However, to know how much they can save, the city government should A number of video cameras will be installed in the main first know how much these buildings actually consume and spend. boulevards and streets in the city, and will help monitor traffic and Consequently, for Ploiești, as for all other cities that will benefit accidents. The city managers intend to connect the SCADA system to from ROP funds, it will be important to have a municipal buildings data- public buildings in order to keep an eye on the crime rate, and thus, base, where they can collect and monitor key performance indicators. This reduce the rate of crime in the city. Once the SCADA system will be will not only allow them to determine where the biggest energy savings implemented, the traffic monitoring and management will be coordinated can be achieved for the lowest investments, but it would also allow them from the City Hall, together with representatives from the local Police and to benchmark individual buildings against each other. Moreover, tracking Local Public Transport Authority. the data over recent years could provide insights into how energy Local government may take into consideration enforcing some efficiency improvements have helped lower energy bills. Such a data-base reduced speed zones in the city center as a measure aimed at could also help local authorities perform an in-depth audit of the municipal building stock, and allow them to prioritize buildings for retrofit. 54 Andrei Mureșanu School in Ploiești (SGU). As such, it will be responsible not only for paying the electricity bills, but also for expanding and improving the street lighting system. Overall, energy consumption in the street lighting system is relatively small, and the vast majority of light bulbs in the city have been replaced with energy efficient sodium vapor bulbs. Further improvements to the system will have to come from improved bulbs usage. One of the simplest measures that can be taken is the introduction of an automatic dimmer system, which reduces light intensity when traffic in the city is small – e.g., on week-days at 2:00 AM in the morning when usually a small number of cars are on the streets. Old mercury bulbs replaced with sodium vapor bulbs Source: www.harta.edu.ro A small dedicated team from the City Hall or external consultants should be assigned with responsibilities to prepare such an audit, with support from departments within the local public administration, like economic and technical divisions. The municipal building database should consist of specific information that should include the type of construction, date of the construction and renovation (if it is the case), floor area, type of heating, and information on electricity and heating bills in the recent years. Publishing the findings and updating the data regularly could enable competitions among the building managers and open the paths for a productive exchange of data and cooperation. Once the database is completed it should be followed by a building audit targeting specific energy consumption for end users and activities, like computers, lighting, An initial capital investment of 100,000 USD over a year can prompt air conditioning and heating systems. After the audit is performed the city between 100,000 and 200,000 kWh in energy savings. Introducing such authorities should allocate funds for energy efficiency updates, purchasing system would benefit from having a central management system, which new equipment and performing renovation work on certain buildings. would allow all street light to be controlled from a remote location. In addition to light dimmers, local authorities can also consider the Street Lighting Timing Program introduction of street lights with motion sensors – i.e., lights that only go After management of the street lighting system has been outsourced for on when someone is around. For example, small residential alleys which several years to an Energy Saving Company (ESCo) – Luxten, the city are not used very frequently can be equipped with motion sensors. government is now taking the system under its own management through Already, many apartment blocks have motion-based lighting systems a public company under the City Hall, Servicii de Gospodărire Urbană installed within the interior stairwell, so it would be natural to install such systems outside the apartment blocks too. 55 56 57 58 Detailed Recommendations from TRACE Improving Energy Efficiency in Ploiești, Romania Annex 1: Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan /60 Annex 2: District Heating Network Maintenance /64 Annex 3: Non-Motorized Transport Modes /68 Annex 4: Traffic Restraint Measures /71 Annex 5: Parking Restraint Measures /74 Annex 6: Public Transportation Development /77 Annex 7: Municipal Buildings Audit and Retrofit /81 Annex 8: Street Lighting Timing Program /85 Annex 9: List of abbreviations for cities in the TRACE database /88 59 ANNEX 1: Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Develop a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy and action plan for the municipality. The strategy should have measurable and realistic targets, set out timeframes and assign responsibilities. It should be Energy Savings Potential developed collaboratively by representatives from across the municipality and other groups who will be 100,000-200,000 kWh/annum affected by the strategy. First Cost US$100,000-1,000,000 A municipal energy efficiency strategy will help bring together a diverse range of initiatives into a coherent Speed of Implementation plan for city-wide energy efficiency. By presenting a single action plan, the strategy will also make it easier < 1 year to monitor progress. The strategy can also be used as an internal and external publicity tool for the Co-Benefits municipality to promote and build support for their work on energy efficiency. Reduced carbon emissions Improved air quality IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Enhanced public health & safety Implementation Increased employment opportunities Methodology Financial savings Activity Security of supply The mayor issues a mayoral decree for an interdepartmental energy efficiency Mayoral decree review and strategy. The city authority introduces regulations requiring that the public organizations Regulation (Annual report on total energy usage, measures taken to improve energy efficiency and the EE Reports) impact of efficiency measures on an annual basis. The city authority appoints a senior officer to monitor energy usage to and efficiency to within city authority departments and public organizations. Appoint EE officer Incorporate the collection and management of data into the job descriptions of those municipal employees with responsibility for energy efficiency initiatives. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. 60 Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Total city authority energy use, total efficiency savings achieved from energy efficiency initiatives, percentage of energy efficiency initiatives for which data is collected every year.  Total city authority energy use  Total efficiency savings achieved from energy efficiency initiatives  Percentage of energy efficiency initiatives for which data is collected every year  Set targets for the city authority for each KPI, for example, improve KPI performance by 20% in 5 years. Produce annual reports on progress towards set targets. Monitor and update the action plan on a regular basis. CASE STUDIES Municipal Initiatives to address Climate Change, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA Connecticut General Assembly "Municipal Initiatives to address Climate Change" http://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0300.htm Regional Plan Association, Copy of Mayor's Executive Order http://www.rpa.org/bgreen/BGreen_2020_Executive_Order.pdf Regional Plan Association "BGreen 2020: A Sustainability Plan for Bridgeport, Connecticut" http://www.rpa.org/bgreen/BGreen-2020.pdf In 2008, the mayor issued an executive order that established a goal for the city government to reduce its annual GHG emissions from a 1990 baseline by 7% by 2012 and 20% by 2020, in accordance with the city's Plan of Conservation and Development. In order to meet this goal, the executive order required the city to obtain at least 25% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2012 and for all new major city construction and major renovation projects to earn at least a silver rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, or its equivalent under similar rating systems. The order established a Sustainability Community Advisory Committee, which is charged with:  overseeing the completion of a city-wide and municipal government GHG inventory,  making recommendations to the mayor and the city on how to meet the city's sustainability goals,  preparing educational materials for households and businesses describing climate change and actions they can take to promote sustainability, and  identifying economic and workforce development opportunities associated with green jobs. The city, in collaboration with the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, has developed a program to promote sustainability. The program includes specific measures around auditing energy use, reducing total building footprint within the city, using advanced waste treatment techniques, and analyzing the feasibility of installing renewable energy systems on public and private buildings. Since the order was issued, the city and the Regional Business Council have also developed a comprehensive sustainability plan, BGreen2020. The plan was developed following an 18-month planning process with a Community Advisory Committee and five technical subcommittees. The process involved over 200 participants from city, state, and federal governments, businesses, and civic and neighborhood groups. The plan is a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of life, social equity, and economic competitiveness while reducing GHG emissions and increasing the community's resilience to the impacts of climate change. Energy Efficiency Strategy, Spain European Commission - Saving & Energy Efficiency Strategy in Spain http://ec.europa.eu/energy/demand/legislation/doc/neeap/es_neeap_en.pdf 61 Evaluate Energy Savings http://www.evaluate-energy-savings.eu/emeees/en/countries/Spain/index.php Spain's Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency Strategy 2008-2012 (E4), which constitutes its National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP), aims to achieve security of supply in terms of quantity and price with some basic levels of self-sufficiency, taking into consideration the environmental impact and economic competitiveness. The plan identifies 7 sectors including: agriculture, buildings, domestic and office equipment, industry, public services, transport, and energy transformation. Within each of these sectors, it sets out sets out strategic objectives as well as the route that energy policy should take to achieve these objectives. The Plan establishes a primary energy saving of 24,776 ktoe in 2012 as quantified energy objective in opposition to the scenario which was used as the base for the initial Plan 2004-2012, involving 13.7%. The plan also monitors progress against previous action plans, identifies investment and the potential for improvement in each sector, and sets targets for the immediate future. The financing of the Plan is via investments in the private sector and in public services, and are therefore passed on to the end-users (consumers) and employers, who make investments which improve the processes or equipment that they bring to the market, so the services that they provide are carried out with less consumption of energy. Energy and resource saving program, Brisbane, Australia 2 Good Practices in City Energy Efficiency: Eco Cities: Energy and Resource Saving Program in Brisbane, available online http://www.esmap.org/esmap/node/1225 Brisbane’s population is expected to continue to grow over the next two decades. In 2007, the Brisbane City Council issued Brisbane’s Plan for Action on Climate Change and Energy, which delineates the selected actions to be achieved in the short term (about 18 months) and the long term (more than five years). Brisbane has three major challenges: climate change, high peak oil demand, and greenhouse gas emissions. Analyses suggest that, if Brisbane responds intelligently to these challenges, the city may generate significant economic benefits by developing sustainable industries, while saving resources. Brisbane is actively introducing various approaches to sustainable development. In addit ion, in the city’s “Our Shared Vision: Living in Brisbane 2026” policy document, authorities have committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half, reusing all wastewater, and re storing 40 percent of the natural habitat by 2026. Integrated resource planning and management, Stockholm, Sweden 2 Good Practices in City Energy Efficiency: Eco Cities - Integrated Resource Management in Stockholm, available online http://www.esmap.org/esmap/node/1228 The City of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has pursued integrated city planning and management to become a sustainable city. The city has a comprehensive urban vision, environmental programs, and concrete action plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. It implements integrated urban planning approaches that consider ecological benefits and efficient resource use. The ongoing redevelopment in the city’s southern district, Hammarby Sjöstad, is a good model for understanding integrated approaches to sustainable urban planning and redevelopment. The area aims to be twice as sustainable as Swedish best practice in 1995. The area implements integrated resource management (waste, energy, water, and sewage) through systematic stakeholder collaboration and has transformed the linear urban metabolism into a cyclical one known as the Hammarby Model. According to Grontmij AB, a private consultancy firm in Stockholm, primary assessments of the initially developed districts of Hammarby Sjöstad show that the area has achieved, for example, 28 to 42 percent reductions in nonrenewable energy use and 29 to 37 percent reductions in global warming potential. 62 TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance N/A 63 ANNEX 2: District Heating Network Maintenance & Upgrade Program DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Many cities already have established district heating networks. The primary plant (boilers), may be Energy Savings Potential operating at low efficiencies, or the pipework distribution networks may have poor or no insulation > 200,000 kWh/annum thereby losing thermal energy or considerable amounts of water through leakage. Advances in materials, First Cost boiler design or alternative system configuration (for example, improved heat exchange) mean that higher > US$1,000,000 efficiencies can be achieved, and there are various different methods for detecting leaks. More energy can Speed of Implementation be delivered to the end user through primary plant upgrades, pipework repair and replacement and better > 2 years insulation. Co-Benefits Reduced carbon emissions The aim is of this recommendation is to develop a program for maintenance and retrofits to upgrade boiler Efficient water use plant, pumps, pipework or insulation. Improved air quality Financial savings District energy networks are inherently more efficient than individual systems, but further energy Security of supply efficiencies could be gained through repairing pipework and upgrading insulation, delivering more resource, operational cost and carbon emission savings. IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Implementation Methodology Activity The City Authority establishes appropriate partnerships to undertake a feasibility study. The CA should engage a team that includes network planners, power and heat engineers, environmental specialists and financial advisors to ensure the feasibility study captures all pertinent aspects. The feasibility study establishes the technological and financial viability, as well as Feasibility Study procurement and policy options. It establishes the baseline city energy expenditure associated with power and heat supply and the efficiency of their distribution across the network(s). Technical ability, procurement methodology, incentives and taxes should also be given consideration. Each option should be appraised against the specific requirements and capabilities of the CA. The City Authority invests in the maintenance of the network as well as upgrades Direct expenditures of the infrastructure where necessary. The main expenditures associated with a & procurement replacement program are the capital cost of plant and the civil works to access 64 networks where the pipework is buried. The City Authority can pay for these items directly out of the city budget, and recoup the investment through lower primary fuel costs. The City Authority invests in the maintenance of the network as well as upgrades of the infrastructure where necessary. The main expenditures associated with a replacement program are the capital cost of plant and pumps and the civil works to access networks where the pipework is buried. The City Authority can pay for these items directly out of the city budget, and recoup the investment through lower primary fuel costs. The City Authority contracts with an Energy Services Company (ESCO) to assume management of the district heating network, and maintain and investing in repairs to ensure consistent and efficient supply to users. The benefit of this approach is Energy Services that the CA does not have to commit to significant financial investment in the Company project or retain ownership of the project related risks. There are a number of potential ESCO contractual structures and it is recommended that if the City Authority explores the various advantages and disadvantages of each. See Jiamusi case study for further details. The City Authority passes legislation or creates policy that requires minimum efficiency levels in both the generation and supply infrastructure of the district Legal or Statutory heating network. The efficiency levels should be set to ensure that the replacement program is staggered, targeting the worst performing assets first. 65 MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Establish baseline energy losses due to pipework and pumps(kWh/annum);  Establish baseline water losses due to pipework and pumps(l/annum);  Establish the City Authority goal for losses (kWh/annum) due to potential network upgrades ;  Compare actual program performance with targeted performance. CASE STUDIES District heating network pipe maintenance, Seoul, Korea DBDH, Direct Access to District Heating Technology "Seoul Metropolitan District Heating Network", http://www.e-pages.dk/dbdh/12/ Established in 1985 by a public corporation, the district heating network in Seoul supplies 10,604 GWh of district heating and cooling to 832,000 households, commercial buildings and public buildings. During its first five years of operation, the network suffered from service interruptions caused by construction failures as pre-insulated pipe construction had only just been introduced in Korea and construction skills were too low to assure a good quality pipe construction. By the mid-2000s, 300 km of pre-insulated pipelines (20% of the total length) was around 20 years old, and investigation into pipe construction failure showed that these were mainly caused by loose casing joints (51%) and the use of improper materials (21%). In order to improve the reliability of the supply network, and thereby reduce the cost of water and energy losses, the company invested in improving pipe construction skills and used a leak detection system which enables them to locate 'defaults'. As the leak detection system does not work well with the old pipes, faults are also located by means of "thermal graphic camera" and "injection gas to pipelines" methods. District heating network upgrade, Jiamusi, China DBDH, Direct Access to District Heating Technology "Dalkia Management of Jiamusi Urban Heating Network" http://dbdh.dk/images/uploads/pdf- news/hotcool_1_2010_low.pdf Due to a chronic lack of funds, the Jiamusi district heating network had for many years suffered from reduced maintenance, which had resulted in large energy and water losses. As interruption of service and low in-door temperature were the norm, the operator of the network, Jiamusi Heating Company (JHC), experienced increased dissatisfaction from its users. In May 2007 JHC, which was owned by the municipality, signed a 25-year agreement with an energy services company to take responsibility for the management of the network. A large-scale initiative to improve performance and upgrade the network's facilities was implemented. The heat supply temperature was raised; 90 new substations were built; and a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system was installed, enabling real-time management of the substations and the network, and resulting in improved optimization of 66 energy efficiency and user's comfort. As a result, water losses were reduced by 30%, and energy consumption by 13.5%. By improving service quality, the company improved its customer relationships and was able to reduce the bad debt rate from 7% to 2%. The network has begun expansion and after two years of operation, it has increased its supply from 5.5 million sq. m (29% of the total heating surface) by 56% to 8.6 million sq. m. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance DHCAN "District Heating System Rehabilitation and Modernisation and Modernisation Guide" projects.bre.co.uk/DHCAN/pdf/Modernisation.pdf. A guidance document for technical improvements resulting in higher energy efficiency and reduction of primary energy use. It attempts to set out a range of solutions from low-cost to high-cost, with consideration of financial circumstances, and links this to the fundamental need for a strategic view. IEA "Coming in from the Cold- Improving District Heating Policy in Transition Economies" http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2004/cold.pdf. A document which summarizes the institutional experiences of district heating rehabilitation, with focus on delivering clear policy on district heating. ESMAP Public Procurement of Energy Efficiency Services - Guide of good procurement practice from around the world. http://www.esmap.org/Public_Procurement_of_Energy_Efficiency_Services.pdf 67 ANNEX 3: Non-motorized Transport Modes DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Non-motorised transport modes have zero operational fuel consumption and require low capital costs for Energy Savings Potential implementation. In addition to improving the health of users, their use reduces noise pollution and 100,000-200,000 kWh/annum improves air quality. Benefits include improved air quality, lower operating costs for users and providers, First Cost and lower infrastructure requirements. > US$1,000,000 Speed of Implementation IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS > 2 years Implementation Co-Benefits Methodology Reduced carbon emissions Activity Improved air quality The City Authority pedestrianizes networks of streets or larger city areas. Either Enhanced public health & safety permanent or temporary, the closure of streets to motor vehicles increases public awareness of non-motorised modes and removes noisy and polluting vehicles, as well as creating opportunities for street markets and other initiatives. The City Pedestrianization Authority researches the feasibility and probable take-up from origin and destination surveys, existing mode splits, and subsequently designs networks to suit commuting patterns and local/neighbourhood travel. See Oxford case study for further details. The City Authority includes dedicated cycle / walking route networks in its transportation or city land use plans. Replacement or reservation of rights-of-way in new-built areas creates the necessary conditions for adopting non-motorised modes Dedicated that may otherwise be less favoured if roads cater to cars only. The key to success is networks the linkage of cycle and pedestrian networks at local level, and the quality of the environment provided, that requires good drainage and adequate lighting and shading. See Bogota case study for further details. The City Authority makes micro credits available which can be used to increase the ownership of bicycles. Increased cycle ownership can have significant financial Microcredits benefits to low-income workers who may no longer be dependent upon expensive, inefficient and infrequent public transport. See Lima case study for further details. The City Authority introduces bicycle rental programs which provide bicycles on Rental programs demand for a fee. The key factor for success to is the setting of tariffs that encourage use as well as security procedures that avoid and penalise theft. 68 Registered-user schemes require a credit card or bank details of users, but are not necessarily open to all. Non-registered user schemes are more flexible, but more open to abuse. Branding of bicycles and facilities can create revenue for local authority. See Paris case study for further details. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Perform surveys of the number of cycles in circulation by using traffic counters on roads and cycle lanes.  Determine the mode share of people travelling in the area or city.  Determine KPIs such as % non-motorized transport mode, modal shift, km of dedicated cycle/walking infrastructure, take-up of cycle promotion schemes by analyzing registers of subsidies CASE STUDIES Pedestrianization with road closures, Oxford, England European Commission, Directorate General for the Environment (2004). "Reclaiming city streets for people: Chaos or quality of life?", available online from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pubs/pdf/streets_people.pdf The main retail streets have been fully pedestrianized, while other through roads in the central area are only accessible to buses and pedestrians. The adoption of a step by step, integrated approach to the implementation of the road closure program has been seen as critical to the success of the significant road space reallocation element of the scheme. Opposition to the USD 6 million schemes was raised most notably on the basis that traffic congestion on two key routes in the city would worsen, as well as from retailers concerned about delivery access and trade levels. These concerns were attended to via an extensive consultation process and an effective publicity campaign prior to the implementation of the scheme. This included leaflets, advertisements on buses, city-wide poster boards, and a series of press releases Dedicated cycle network, Bogota, Colombia C40 Cities (2010). "Bogota, Colombia: Bogota's CicloRuta is one of the most comprehensive cycling systems in the world", available online from http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/transport/bogota_cycling.jsp 69 CicloRutas is considered a unique cycling network where design has taken the topography of the city into consideration in order to create maximum flow and function (manmade and natural features, hills, waterways, parklands, essential facilities). In a period of just 7 years, following an investment of USD 50 million, the use of bicycles on the network increased by more than 268%. CicloRutas plays an important role for lower income groups, as more than 23% of the trips made by the lowest income group in the city are by walking or by bike. The development of CicloRutas has also helped to recover public space along riverbanks and wetlands, as for many years the city's wetlands were occupied by illegal settlements. Bicycle micro-credits, Lima, Peru ICLEI (2009). "Case study 46: Assistance to purchase bicycles - Lima, Peru" in Sustainable Urban Energy Planning: A handbook for cities and towns in developing countries, available online from http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2839 In 1990, the Municipality of Lima set up a micro-credit programme to help low income citizens purchase bicycles. By saving on daily public transportation costs, workers can see their income effectively rise more than 12% once the loan is paid off. In order to enhance the success of the program, efforts have been made at standardizing the use of bicycles in the city. Actions to achieve this have so far consisted of the development of a manual of technical standards for the design and planning of cycle ways. Bicycle rental, Velib, Paris, France C40 Cities (2010). "Paris, France Velib - a new Paris love affair", available from http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/transport/paris_cycling.jsp Paris launched a 24/7 cycle hire scheme through Velib; a public private partnership between the city of Paris and a company led by a major advertising group. Users must purchase a subscription by day, week or year, and bike rental is free for the first half hour of every individual trip, after which it costs a fixed rate. The increasing price scale ensures the bikes are kept in circulation. Notably, the City of Paris generates revenues from the project without any investment (which cost USD 108 million). The public-private partnership is the reason for this success, with the private company paying operating costs plus rights to advertising space to the City, funded by advertising revenues. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance Sustrans (2007). "Technical guidelines for the development of cycle facilities" A series of guidance documents for professionals on the details of bicycle network design. Available online from http://www.sustrans.org.uk/resources/design-and-construction/technical-guidelines Transport for London (2010). "London Cycling Design Standards" A guidance document for designing to reduce barriers to cycling, in order to support road safety targets. Available online from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/publications/2766.aspx 70 ANNEX 4: Traffic Restraint Measures DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Discouraging potential drivers from using their cars leads to fewer cars in circulation. This encourages Energy Savings Potential people to use alternative modes, which in turn will increase their viability (increased public transport 100,000-200,000 kWh/annum patronage for example). First Cost US$100,000-1,000,000 Removing vehicles from circulation reduces fuel use and reduces the need for road space. Speed of Implementation 1-2 years IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Co-Benefits Implementation Reduced carbon emissions Methodology Improved air quality Activity Enhanced public health & safety The City Authority imposes blanket bans. Possible types of blanket bans include vehicle-type bans which exclude entire vehicle categories from circulation; or licence plate bans, by which certain number plates are banned from circulation. A weakness Blanket bans of licence plate bans are that they tend to result in wealthier residents purchasing second cars, not only negating the aims of the ban, but thereby also disadvantaging those with lower incomes. See Guangzhou case study for further details. The City Authority rations permits. The establishment of quotas for private vehicles allows for only a certain number of vehicle registrations over a given period of time. However, as demand for cars tends to be inelastic, this often results in very high Licensing purchase prices for the licenses - a mechanism which favours the wealthy and marginalizes the lower income brackets of society. See Singapore case study for further details. The City Authority sanctions and encourages 'no-driving days' to educate and lead by Civic initiatives example. Participation in these initiatives is voluntary, however, and therefore not enforceable. See Puerto Princesa case study for further details. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for 71 measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Perform traffic surveys of the number of vehicles in circulation pre- and post-implementation.  Determine the mode share of people travelling in an area or the city.  Collate registration data of users to paid schemes or voluntary schemes.  Perform statistical analysis of rate of growth of car registration data. CASE STUDIES Vehicle bans: Motorcycle ban, Guangzhou, China Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (2008). "Case study: motorcycles in Guangzhou", available online from http://www.itdp.org/documents/Guangzhou%20Case%20Studies%20-%20Motorcycles%2015-Sep-08.pdf Motorcycles have been completely banned in the City of Guangzhou. The ban was implemented in phases, beginning with a moratorium on new licenses, extending to various roads and time periods. Gradual implementation has been crucial to allow time for the public to adapt, and efficient supply of additional infrastructure/services has supported the induced modal shift. Many motorbike riders have shifted to bicycles and buses, and cycle rickshaws have also emerged as a popular substitute. Road accidents have dropped by 40% since the initial implementation of the ban. Rationing, Singapore, Singapore Sustainable Urban Transport Project (2010)."The Vehicle Quota System in Singapore", available online from http://www.sutp.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1582 Singapore fixes the number of new vehicles allowed for registration. Potential buyers need to bid for a non-transferable license, which entitles them to own a vehicle for a fixed number of years. The scheme had to be modified soon after implementation to safeguard against speculative action. The licenses used to be transferable and within the first two months of the first round of release, 20% changed hands in "buy and sell" transactions with speculators making sizable profits of up to S$5000. As the rationing system does not control annual mileage, the success of the rationed registration in limiting vehicle usage has been dependent on support from other traffic restraint measures, such as high road tolls, parking fees, and electronic road pricing. No-driving days, One Day Rest, Puerto Princesa, Philippines ICLEI (2001). "Vehicular Reduction Strategy for Air Pollution Prevention and Climate Change Mitigation; A Case of Puerto Princesa City, Philippines", available online from http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=1193 Introduced as part of a zoning and rerouting, this program stipulates a one day rest for tricycle drivers in the central business district. Regulation of illegally operated tri-cycles is a major impediment, as enforcement irregularities pose questions of inequality between illegal and legal tri-cycle taxi drivers. Furthermore, the income potential of those who comply with the rest day is lost to the illegal operators 72 TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance Sierra Club of Canada (2001). "How to Stage a Car Free Day In Your Community" A guidance document for preparing and planning a community-driven car free day. Available online from http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/documents/cfd_howto.pdf 73 ANNEX 5: Parking Restraint Measures DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Restricting parking availability discourages car use and provides an incentive to use more Energy Savings Potential sustainable modes of transport, including public transport. Removing vehicles from circulation 100,000-200,000 kWh/annum reduces fuel use and reduces congestion effects. First Cost < US$100,000 IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Speed of Implementation Implementation > 2 years Methodology Co-Benefits Activity Reduced carbon emissions The City Authority introduces planning measures which determine car Improved air quality parking provision for residential and office developments. Introducing Enhanced public health & safety maximum parking allowances with low car-to-unit ratios discourages Increased employment private-car acquisition and use. Such measures do not affect the existing parking provision, however, and so need to be supported by additional Planning measures. While areas of intervention can be defined, larger coverage is measures more effective as it has less potential to overwhelm surrounding areas. A gradient approach solves this by making requirements less stringent from the centre to the periphery. These measures safeguard energy use and efficiency in design and thereby bear no immediate cost to the city authority. See London case study for further details. The City Authority charges for on-street parking. Implementing a charging regime for car parking and formalizing parking arrangements will enable the parking stock to be controlled and generate a revenue stream for Parking fees sustainable transport measures. This type of approach requires a supporting system for enforcement, e.g. traffic wardens who issue fines to perpetrators, and are politically very sensitive measures. See San Francisco case study for further details. The City Authority promotes multimodality by providing Park & Ride locations at key interchanges. By linking parking to public transport use, the Park & Ride necessities of non-inner city residents are considered. The success of Park & facilities Ride is linked to availability of public transport and unavailability of cheap parking in central locations. The perceived cost should be lower than that of driving the entire way. Measures of this kind often require major capital 74 investment in infrastructure by the city authority with respect to 'Park & Ride' locations on the periphery of the city, bus terminals and additional buses. See Oxford case study for further details. Complementary implementation activity: Planning measures MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Perform surveys of parking stock and usage;  Perform traffic surveys of number of vehicles in circulation by using traffic counters;  Determine the average travelling speeds on the main transport corridors;  Determine the mode share of people travelling in the area or city;  Perform statistical analysis of rate of growth of car registration data. CASE STUDIES Parking standards, London Plan, London, UK London (2010). "Chapter 6: Transport" in The London Plan , available from http://www.london.gov.uk/shaping-london/london-plan/docs/chapter6.pdf pp.160-161. The London Plan establishes maximum parking guidelines for residential development. It stipulates that all developments in areas of good public transport accessibility should aim for significantly less than 1 parking space per unit. The main challenge continues to consist of ensuring that these standards are supported other measures which reduce car dependency, both within the development and in the surrounding area, e.g. improved and increased public transportation accessibility. SF park curbside parking, San Francisco, USA Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (2010) "U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview of Management Strategies", available online from http://www.itdp.org/documents/ITDP_US_Parking_Report.pdf San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency's (SFMTA) installed new electronic, multi-space meters in 2009 and will activate parking spot sensors attached to the pavement sometime in 2010. The aim is to use pricing to help redistribute the demand for parking. The heart of SFpark is a Data Management 75 System which sorts a tremendous amount of data collected from the networked array of remote sensors in all 6,000 parking spots. These wireless sensors can detect whether a spot is occupied by a vehicle and report parking occupancy information in real time to a central computer. The project will produce valuable data about the effect of meter pricing on occupancy. By 2010 the project will encompass 6,000 of San Francisco's 25,000 metered curbside parking spots in seven pilot neighborhoods. Parking fees, Aspen, USA Source: Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2010). "Parking Pricing Implementation Guidelines", available online from http://www.vtpi.org/parkpricing.pdf The city used to suffer from high levels of congested on-street parking. In order to reduce the effects of the "ninety-minute shuffle" (where locals and downtown commuters moved their vehicles every 90 minutes to avoid a parking ticket), the city introduced charges for on-street parking using multi- space meters. Parking fees are highest in the center and decline with distance from the core. The city had a marketing campaign to let motorists know about the meters, including distribution of one free prepaid parking meter card to each resident to help familiarize them with the system. Motorists were allowed one free parking violation, and parking control officers provide an hour of free parking to drivers confused by the meters. Park-and-Ride, Oxford, United Kingdom Oxford City Council (2009). "Park and Ride Transfer", available online from http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decTS/Park_and_Ride_occw.htm Oxford city has five Park-and-Ride sites serving the city's shoppers, visitors and commuters. These sites used to charge for parking to provide income to cover operational costs, but were not able to generate additional money for repairs or improvement. In order to achieve savings, the management of the Park-and-Ride sites was transferred to Oxfordshire county, resulting in efficiency savings of 250,000 GBP per year for the city administration. These savings were achieved primarily through economies of scale, and by sharing the cost of providing the service with taxpayers across the County, and not just those in the city - both of which used the facilities. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2010). "Parking Management: Strategies, Evaluation and Planning" A comprehensive guidance document for planning and implementation of parking management strategies. Available online from http://www.vtpi.org/park_man.pdf Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2010). "Parking Pricing Implementation Guidelines" A guidance document for implementation of parking pricing with details on overcoming common obstacles. Available online from http://www.vtpi.org/parkpricing.pdf Spillar, R. (1997). "A Comprehensive Planning and Design Manual for Park-and-Ride Facilities" A guidance document for the planning and design of Park- and-Ride facilities. Available online from http://www.pbworld.com/library/fellowship/spillar 76 ANNEX 6: Public Transport Development DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Develop or improve the public transport system and take measures to increase its accessibility and use. Energy Savings Potential Public transport achieves lower emissions per capita than private cars, and has the potential to provide > 200,000 kWh /annum equitable transport network. A reduction in the number of private vehicles in circulation can lower First Cost emissions and improve air quality. > US$1,000,000 Speed of Implementation IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS > 2 years Implementation Co-Benefits Methodology Reduced carbon emissions Activity Improved air quality The City Authority establishes dedicated bus priority measures. This enables buses Enhanced public health & safety to bypass traffic queues enhancing their reliability and journey times. There are a Bus priority range of measures including bus lanes and priority at junctions that could be implemented. See the Bogota case study for further details. The City Authority invests in the necessary infrastructure for bus-priority signaling. Such systems are linked to buses via transponders which use GIS information, and Signaling favor the circulation of approaching buses either by extending green lights for buses or by shortening cycle for cars. The City Authority provides good quality passenger waiting facilities and as well as good information services. The provision of real-time bus countdown information Information allows users to understand and manage waiting times. These services enhance the attractiveness of public transport. The City Authority invests in the necessary infrastructure for electronic ticketing. This allows for use of multiple buses within a given amount of time with one ticket, Operations reducing the cost of travel, putting buses within the reach of the poorest, while attracting a wider patron base, when in combination with other modes, such as heavy rail or metro. The City Authority links development densities to public transport availability and Planning funding. The City Authority reviews the city's zoning ordinances and considers regulations & making the following changes: Increase the permitted floor area ratio/ plot ratio on guidelines sites located near public transport hubs. In areas where it is appropriate re-zone single-use lands to allow multiple uses on the same site. Allowing higher densities 77 of development along well-served public transport corridors creates a patron base for public transport and can be used in combination with other planning measures, such as capping parking provision to residential and office buildings, thus discouraging car use. Developers are required to show how a new development links to the existing or planned public transport network in order to gain planning permission. See the Curitiba case study for further details. The City Authority subsidizes travel on public transport. In certain areas this can Subsidies provide an incentive for people to use public transport. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Perform surveys of public transport passenger numbers;  Determine mode share of people travelling in area or city. CASE STUDIES BRT system, Bogota, Colombia Source: ESMAP (2009). "Good practices in city energy efficiency: Bogota, Colombia - Bus Rapid Transit for Urban Transport Energy", available online from http://esmap.org/esmap/sites/esmap.org/files/Bogota_Case_Study_020310.pdf With the completion of its first two phases, the TransMilenio BRT system serves about 1.5 million passengers every day and has city-wide fuel consumption by 47%. Key success factors have been city-wide comprehensive planning of infrastructure, use of state-of-the-art technologies, implementation of a variety of design features to accommodate high volumes of passengers, and the use of a simple single price faring system. It does not require subsidies for operation - these are fully covered by fares. The project's capital cost totaled USD 240 million. The system is managed by a company which was set up by the Mayor, but runs independently from the city administration. While the company is in charge of all planning, maintenance and construction of infrastructure as well as organizing of schedules of bus services, buses and drivers are contracted through private firms, resulting in a complex but innovative management structure. 78 Land Use and Public Transport Planning, Curitiba, Brazil 2 Source: World Bank (2010). "Curitiba, Brazil -- Cost Is No Barrier to Ecological and Economic Urban Planning, Development, and Management . In ECO Cities: Ecological Cities as Economic Cities, pages 169-182." available online from http://www.esmap.org/esmap/sites/esmap.org/files/CS_Curitiba.pdf The case of Curitiba, Brazil, shows that cost is no barrier to ecological and economic urban planning, development, and management. Curitiba has developed a sustainable urban environment through integrated urban planning. To avoid unplanned sprawl, Curitiba directed urban growth linearly along strategic axes, along which the city encouraged high density commercial and residential development linked to the city’s integrated master plan and land use zoning. Curitiba adopted an affordable but innovative bus system rather than expensive railways that require significant time to implement. Curitiba’s efficient and well-designed bus system serves most of the urban area, and public transportation (bus) ridership has reached 45 percent. The city now has less traffic congestion, which has reduced fuel consumption and enhanced air quality. The green area has been increased, mainly in parks that have been created to improve flood prevention and through regulations that have enabled the transfer of development rights to preserve green areas and cultural heritage zones. Linking development densities to public transport availability, Curitiba, Brazil Source: Rabinovitch, J. (1992) "Curitiba: towards sustainable urban development", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.4 (2) pp. 62-73 Curitiba's Master Plan integrated transportation with land use planning. Zoning laws are used to direct linear growth by attracting residential and commercial density along a mass transportation lane. High-density residential and commercial development is permitted within walking distance of stops, with much lower densities elsewhere in the city. The city's central area is partly closed to vehicular traffic, and pedestrian streets have been created. In addition, a strict street hierarchy safeguards the right of way for the current BRT, which has significantly contributed to the success of the transportation network. Integrated urban planning and efficient resource use, Singapore 2 Good practices in City Energy Efficiency: Eco Cities - Land and Resource Management in Singapore, available online http://www.esmap.org/esmap/node/1230 Singapore is an island city-state at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. With a limited land area of 700 square kilometers and a population of 4.8 million, Singapore has become developed because of innovative urban planning integrated with the efficient use of land and natural resources. Singapore’s small size poses challenges related to the availability of l and and natural resources. To optimize land use, Singapore promotes high-density development not only for businesses and commercial entities, but also for residential structures. High density lends itself to higher economic productivity per unit of land and facilitates the identification of green spaces and natural areas for preservation. Furthermore, high-density development has translated into greater use of public transportation as major business, commercial, and residential areas are well connected to an integrated public transportation network. In 2004, public transportation as a share of all transportation modes during morning peak hours reached 63 percent. The significant use of public transportation helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. High public transportation ridership also means Singapore has been able to recover all public transportation operating costs from fares, a feat achieved only by Hong Kong, China, and by Singapore among modern, highly developed cities. Integrated regional urban planning, Auckland, New Zealand 2 Good Practices in City Energy Efficiency: Eco Cities - Integrated Regional Urban Planning in Auckland, available online http://www.esmap.org/esmap/node/1227 79 The interconnectedness of national and local Auckland issues (such as housing and education) with growth and innovation and the major required investments (particularly in land transport) have created complex and difficult issues among multiple authorities. Des pite Auckland’s importance to the New Zealand economy and the areas of common interest, such as transportation and energy provision, the national government did not initially play a close role in directing regional and local government planning. Concern emerged that, without agreement on an overarching regional strategy and framework, decision making in the region could become ad hoc and adversarial if each stakeholder tried to have a say from a narrow perspective and without viewing the region as a whole. As a result, there was a clear need for coordinated strategic planning across the Auckland Region to ensure that Auckland would be able to remain competitive in today’s globalized world. The response involved the preparation in 2001 of a regional growth strategy that aimed to provide a vision of what Auckland could be like in 50 years. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance Public Transport Authority Western Australia (2009). "Bus Priority Measures Principles and Design" A guidance document for planning bus priority methods and approaches. Available online from http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/PublicationsandPolicies/DesignandPlanningGuidelines/tabid/109/Default.aspx Transport for London (2006). "Accessible bus stop design guidance" A guidance document for designing bus stops which help make boarding easier for passengers. Available online from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/businessandpartners/accessibile_bus_stop_design_guidance.pdf 80 ANNEX 7: Municipal Buildings Audit and Retrofit Program DESCRIPTION ATTRIBUTES Develop an audit and retrofit program focused on all Offices to survey and implement opportunities for Energy Savings Potential energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades. The benefits of the program will be cost savings for municipal > 200,000 kWh/annum government offices and reduction in carbon footprint of the CA. The program will identify immediate First Cost savings opportunities, and implement rapid payback items to yield cost savings that can go to other > US$1,000,000 municipal services. Speed of Implementation 1-2 years IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Co-Benefits Implementation Reduced carbon emissions Methodology Improved air quality Activity Enhanced public health & safety Identify a CA staff position or hire a new position to be responsible for execution Increased employment opportunities Identify Offices and delivery of energy efficiency projects in municipal office buildings. This Financial savings Program Leader individual must be able to work across agencies, understand building systems and manage subcontractors. Using results from the Benchmarking Program or data collected on office buildings by Office Program staff, identify preliminary opportunities for energy efficiency such as: new lighting systems, new air conditioning systems, new heating systems, Identify Preliminary new computers, server cooling opportunities, etc. Opportunities Offices buildings can be more complex buildings and can have a high variety of system types, for example some may have simple window A/C (or no A/C) and others may have larger central A/C systems with chillers, cooling towers, air handlers and ductwork. Walk through a variety of office buildings to identify specific energy efficiency opportunities across the following end-uses and activities:  lighting systems  air conditioning systems Perform Detailed  heating systems Energy Audits  computers  server rooms and cooling of servers  appliances (water cooler, fridge, vending machines) The Municipal Offices EE Spreadsheet includes estimation methods for energy efficiency potential for offices which includes equipment retrofits, behavioural 81 changes (turning lights off, heating set points, time of operation, etc.) and procurement guidelines. Allocate budgets for energy efficiency upgrades in municipal office buildings. Combining upgrades with natural building renovations tends to be the best use of limited financing. For example if a new roof is required due to leaks, this is a good time to add insulation and white roof; or if new windows are being installed they Set Budget and could be upgraded to highly insulated windows using Office Building Energy Requirements Efficiency Program funds. Alternatively contracts may be set up with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) who will pay for the first cost of the upgrades and will share in the savings from the retrofits. Considering the benchmarking data, detailed energy audits and budgetary Design Retrofits / constraints, design retrofits, equipment replacement and renovation upgrades Upgrades specifically for each building. Prepare an RFP for mechanical or electrical contractors to bid on the retrofit projects. Combining a large number of similar retrofits across dozens of office Hire Contractor to buildings will allow the CA to obtain economies of scale and quality assurance with Implement Retrofits lower overheads. Alternatively prepare a RFP and award an energy service contract to a private company (ESCO) who will guarantee energy savings, put forward the initial investment, and share future savings with the CA. Walk through and verify each construction project has been performed per the Verify Retrofit and specifications in the energy efficiency retrofit RFP. Continue to collect electricity Performance and heating bills for each building with improved systems and compare to historical data. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. 82 Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  $/m2 - Benchmark annual energy cost on a per-square-meter basis for all municipal office buildings;  kWhe/m2 - Benchmark annual electrical energy consumption on a per-square-meter basis for all municipal office buildings ;  kWhth/m2 - Benchmark annual heating energy consumption on a per-square-meter basis for all municipal office buildings;  $/yr saved - Aggregate total energy savings generated through the life of the program. CASE STUDIES Model for Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Berlin, Germany http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/buildings/berlin_efficiency.jsp The City of Berlin in partnership with Berlin Energy Agency (BEA) has pioneered an excellent model for improving energy efficiency in buildings. They project manage the retrofit of public and private buildings, preparing tenders for work that will guarantee reductions in emissions. CO2 reductions of an average 26% are written into the public retrofit tenders so that winning Energy Systems Companies (ESCOs) must deliver sustainable energy solutions. 1,400 buildings have so far been upgraded, delivering CO2 reductions of more than 60,400 tonnes per year - these retrofits cost the building owners nothing - and the buildings make immediate savings. Internal Contracting, Stuttgart, Germany http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/buildings/stuttgart_efficiency.jsp Stuttgart saves around 7200 tons of CO2 each year through an innovative form of internal contracting, making use of a revolving fund to finance energy and water-saving measures. The city is able to reinvest savings directly into new activities, creating a virtuous circle of environmental improvements and emissions reductions. EU and Display Campaign Case Studies http://www.display-campaign.org/page_162.html The European Display Campaign is a voluntary scheme designed by energy experts from European towns and cities. When started in 2003 it was initially aimed at encouraging local authorities to publicly display the energy and environmental performances of their public buildings using the same energy label that is used for household appliances. Since 2008 private companies are also encouraged to use Display for their corporate social responsibility CSR activities. Energy Management System, Frankfurt, Germany http://www.managenergy.net/download/r164.pdf In 1996 the City of Frankfurt (Building department) entered into a contract with a private company to install and operate an energy-management system (EMS) for the city hall (Romer), Paulskirche and Museum "Schirn". The goal of the project is to reduce the costs for energy- and water as well as the CO2- emissions. Based on the annual costs of 2.6 Million DM in 1992/1993 the potential cost reductions were estimated to be approximately 320,000 DM per year. To reach these cost savings an investment of 1 Million DM for control equipment was necessary. Repayment of the invested capital will be provided from the energy savings (54%) over a period of 8 years. The remaining 46% will reduce the operating costs for the buildings. 83 Energy Efficient Office of the Future (EoF), Garston, UK http://projects.bre.co.uk/envbuild/index.html The new Environmental Building at Garston was built as a demonstration building for the Energy Efficient Office of the Future (EoF) performance specifications, drawn up by a number of companies representing the manufacturers, designers and installers of building components and the fuel utilities, as part of the EoF project run by BRECSU. A key part of this specification is the need to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 30% from current best practice. Air conditioning is not used in the new building - the major energy consumer in many existing office buildings. Other savings will be made by making better use of daylighting and by using the building's 'thermal mass' to moderate temperatures. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance EU LOCAL ENERGY ACTION Good practices 2005 - Brochure of good practice examples from energy agencies across Europe. http://www.managenergy.net/download/gp2005.pdf ESMAP Public Procurement of Energy Efficiency Services - Guide of good procurement practice from around the world. http://www.esmap.org/Public_Procurement_of_Energy_Efficiency_Services.pdf Energy Conservation Buildings Code provides minimum requirements for the energy efficient design and construction of buildings and their systems. http://www.emt-india.net/ECBC/ECBC-UserGuide/ECBC-UserGuide.pdf 84 ANNEX 8: Street Lighting Timing Program ATTRIBUTES DESCRIPTION Energy Savings Potential Public lighting usually only has two states of operation, i.e. 'on' and 'off', and only switches between these > 200,000 kWh/annum states in the early evening and early morning. The demand for lighting varies significantly throughout the First Cost day, however, with periods of very little use of public space during the middle of the night. A program with < US$100,000 strategic timing and/or dimming tailored to the specific needs for lighting in specific areas can significantly Speed of Implementation reduce energy consumption whilst still delivering appropriate levels of lighting for e.g. providing safety and < 1 year sense of security in public areas. An intelligent monitoring system can be used to adapt the levels of Co-Benefits lighting according to varying weather and activity levels. The aim of this recommendation is to identify Reduced carbon emissions public space usage patterns and adjust the lighting system levels accordingly. Often lighting timing Enhanced public health & safety programs are integral to a full audit and retrofit program, but for cities that already have energy efficient Increased employment opportunities public lighting systems, a lighting timing program may still be a small and effective program. Financial savings Lighting timing programs can reduce energy consumption, and subsequent carbon emissions as well as operational costs. Such programs often also increase the design life of light bulbs, reducing maintenance requirements and associated costs. The use of intelligent monitoring systems also enables quick detection of faults, allowing for quick replacement, enhancing the quality of the public lighting service. IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS Implementation Activity Methodology Study illumination timing Prepare a study to estimate the types of streets and luminaires that have the alternatives opportunity to have reduced timing and dimming during late night hours. Allocate funding to implement upgrades and retrofits for dimming and Install timers and timing opportunities. Roll out upgrades over the course of multiple years to dimmers on existing achieve 100% coverage of all city public lighting and street lighting street lights installations. See Kirklees and Oslo case studies for further details. Set up timing and dimming standards for new installations of public Standards for new lighting illumination and street lighting that confirm to global best practice for energy efficiency and IESNA illumination guidelines. Monitor and publish Measure on an annual basis the energy savings achieved by this program 85 energy savings and encourage private sector owners to follow the model of the CA. MONITORING Monitoring the progression and effectiveness of recommendations, once implemented, is fundamental to an accurate understanding of their value over the longer term. Where the CA implements a recommendation a target (or set of targets) should be defined that indicates the level of expected progress over a given timescale. At the same time a monitoring plan should be designed. The monitoring plan does not need to be complicated or time consuming but should, as a minimum, cover the following aspects: identification of information sources, identification of performance indicators, a means of measurement and validating measuring equipment or processes, record keeping protocols, a schedule for measurement activity (daily, weekly, monthly etc.), assignment of responsibilities for each aspect of the process, a means of auditing and reviewing performance and finally, establishment of reporting and review cycles. Some suggested measures that relate specifically to this recommendation are as follows:  Hours per year street lights are illuminated at maximum output;  Hours per year street lights are illuminated at less than 50% of maximum output. CASE STUDIES Control system for public lighting, Kirklees, UK http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/environment/green/greencouncil/LightingStoryboard.pdf Instead of switching off street lights at certain times of the day, as has been done by other CAs, the Kirklees CA decided instead to dim lights to varying levels throughout the day. This was done partly because not switching public lighting off completely during times of low activity would provide increased safety in the community by preventing crime. Retrofit systems were installed on each existing lighting pole which used wireless technology to monitor and dim the street lights. The retrofitting of these systems simply required the addition of a small antenna to the lamp heads, which plugged into the electronic ballast with no need for additional wiring. Generally the lights are switched on 100% at 7pm, thereafter dimmed to 75% at 10pm, and then to 50% at midnight. If the lights are still on at 5am, they are increased again to 100% lighting. By dimming the lights gradually, eyes are able to adjust to lower lighting levels, and the dimming is barely noticeable. The remote monitoring system also provides accurate inventory information and enables street lighting engineers to identify failed lamps quickly and easily. This reduces the need for lighting engineers to carry out night scouting and has also reduced other on-site maintenance costs. A dimming of lights as implemented in Kirklees can save up to 30% of the electricity used annually. By replacing 1,200 lights, Kirklees CA estimates savings of approx USD 3 million in energy costs per year. Intelligent outdoor city lighting system, Oslo, Norway http://www.echelon.com/solutions/unique/appstories/oslo.pdf An intelligent outdoor lighting system has replaced PCB and mercury containing fixtures with high-performance high-pressure sodium lights. These are monitored and controlled via an advanced data communication system which operates over the existing 230V power lines using specialist power line technology. An operations centre remotely monitors and logs the energy use of streetlights and their running time. It collects information from traffic and weather sensors, and uses an internal astronomical clock to calculate the availability of natural light from the sun and moon. This data is then used 86 to automatically dim some or all of the streetlights. Controlling light levels in this way has not only saved significant amount of energy (estimated at 62%), but has also extended lamp life, thereby reducing replacement costs. The CA has been able to use the monitoring system to identify lamp failures, often fixing them before being notified by residents. By being able to provide predictive failure analyses based on a comparison of actual running hours versus expected lamp life, the efficiency of repair crews has been increased. 10,000 replacements have cost the CA approx. USD 12 million. Currently the program saves approx. USD 450,000 in running costs per year. However, it is estimated that if the program is rolled out to the entire city, the economies of scale will yield a payback period of less than 5 years. Motorway intelligent lights retrofit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://www.lighting.philips.com.my/v2/knowledge/case_studies-detail.jsp?id=159544 The project implemented a lighting solution for highways leading to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The total length of the dual carriage highway covers 66 km. The main requirement for the project was that each individual lamp along the entire 66 km stretch of highway should be independently dimmable. This called for a network linking all 3,300 positions to a central control facility. There was also a need for greater maintenance efficiency while ensuring optimal visibility without compromising on visual comfort on the road. An intelligent lighting system that uses tele-management control was employed. Tele-management makes it possible to switch or control every individual light point in the system from a central PC. It also enables specific dimming profiles adjusted to suit conditions on the road for different lamps, instant reception of failure messages, and the creation of a database where all system data is stored. It allows a significant reduction in energy consumption in addition to the 45% savings as a result of the use of dimming circuits. TOOLS & GUIDANCE Tools & Guidance N/A 87 ANNEX 9: List of abbreviations for cities in the TRACE database City Country City Abbreviation City Country City Abbreviation 1 Addis Ababa Ethiopia ADD 38 Karachi Pakistan KAR 2 Amman Jordan AMM 39 Kathmandu Nepal KAT 3 Baku Azerbaijan BAK 40 Kiev Ukraine KIE 4 Bangkok Thailand BAN 41 Kuala Malaysia KUA Lumpur 5 Belgrade Serbia BE1 42 Lima Peru LIM 6 Belo Brazil BEL 43 Ljubljana Slovenia LJU Horizonte 7 Bengaluru India BEN 44 Mexico Mexico MEX City 8 Bhopal India BHO 45 Mumbai India MUM 9 Bratislava Slovakia BRA 46 Mysore India MYS 10 Brasov Romania BR1/BRA 47 New York USA NEW 11 Bucharest Romania BUC 48 Odessa Ukraine ODE 12 Budapest Hungary BUD 49 Paris France PAR 13 Cairo Egypt CAI 50 Patna India PAT 14 Cape Town South CAP 51 Phnom Cambodia PHN Africa Penh 15 Casablanca Morocco CAS 52 Ploiesti Romania PLO 16 Cebu Philippines CEB 53 Pokhara Nepal POK 17 Cluj-Napoca Romania CLU 54 Porto Portugal POR 18 Colombo Sri Lanka COL 55 Pune India PUN 19 Constanta Romania CON 56 Quezon Philippines QUE City 20 Craiova Romania CRA 57 Rio de Brazil RIO Janeiro 21 Dakar Senegal DAK 58 Sangli India SAN 22 Danang Vietnam DAN 59 Sarajevo Bosnia and SAR Herzegovina 23 Dhaka Bangladesh DHA 60 Seoul South Korea SEO 24 Gaziantep Turkey GAZ 61 Shanghai China SHA 25 Guangzhou China GUA 62 Singapore Singapore SIN 88 26 Guntur India GUN 63 Sofia Bulgaria SOF 27 Hanoi Vietnam HAN 64 Surabaya Indonesia SUR 28 Helsinki Finland HEL 65 Sydney Australia SYD 29 Ho Chi Minh Vietnam HO 66 Tallinn Estonia TAL 30 Hong Kong China HON 67 Tbilisi Georgia TBI 31 Iasi Romania IAS 68 Tehran Iran TEH 32 Indore India IND 69 Timisoara Romania TIM 33 Jabalpur India JAB 70 Tokyo Japan TOK 34 Jakarta Indonesia JAK 71 Toronto Canada TOR 35 Jeddah Saudi JED 72 Urumqi China URU Arabia 36 Johannesburg South JOH 73 Vijaywada India VIJ Africa 37 Kanpur India KAN 74 Yerevan Armenia YER 89