More than 400 local stakeholders, business representatives and international experts met in Copenhagen for the annual CPH Climate Solutions conference on 3 - 4 October to discuss climate solutions and smart city initiatives. EnergyLab Nordhavn was granted an entire session where progress, challenges and obstacles where shared.
It is all about the partnerships. That was the exact words from Mogens Lykketoft who in his role as former President of the 70th Session United Nations General Assembly was invited as special guest speaker. Lykketoft also made it very clear that the goals related to climate are the most important. If we fail to deliver on these goals, we will see hundreds of millions of displaced people.
With that in mind representatives from public and private companies, NGO’s, industry organizations and universities started discussing urban challenges and achievements in the climate area.
Knowledge Sharing
Copenhagen has for the past years been a role model for big cities like New York and Washington D.C. Sharing knowledge, and exchanging experiences and challenges across borders are vital if we want to reach the global sustainability goals for clean energy. Something Simon Kjær, C40 director pointed out very precisely by saying that ‘great solutions can travel from one pioneering city to another’.
It is very important for the Energylab Nordhavn project to share our knowledge and experiences – and not only results from the demonstrations but also our experience as a Public Private Partnership. For DTU Center for Electric Power and energy (CEE) working together across sectors and industries is not something new. Many of the ongoing projects are in some way connected to the private sector which is both an advantage for DTU, the companies and of course the students.
In the EnergyLab Nordhavn presentation at the CPH Climate Solutions the project was represented by HOFOR, DTU and ABB who discussed both flexible district heating and intelligent buildings. For the first time the project could also present one of the latest participants, the Copenhagen International School (CIS) who have recently signed an agreement with the project.
Framework is key
Throughout the sessions it became clear that to succeed developing and not least implementing sustainable climate and energy solutions having the right framework is key. As one of his final remarks Lykketoft stressed how important it is that we push for governments to make the right framework. A framework that should consider that most of the investments has to be done in the private sector.
It was also discussed how regulation can be an obstacle in connection with developing smart cities where knowledge of patterns and human behavior are necessary providing smart solutions. On that note one of the speakers pointed out that it sometimes seems as if lawyers are getting rich and not cities getting smarter.
About EnergyLab Nordhavn
The project “EnergyLab Nordhavn – new urban energy infrastructures” will develop and demonstrate future energy solutions. The project utilizes Copenhagen’s Nordhavn as a full-scale smart city energy lab and demonstrates how electricity and heating, energy-efficient buildings and electric transport can be integrated into an intelligent, flexible and optimized energy system. The project participants are: DTU, City of Copenhagen, CPH City & Port Development, HOFOR, DONG Energy, ABB, Balslev, Danfoss, CleanCharge, METRO THERM, Glen Dimplex and the PowerLab facilities. The project is supported by EUPD (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme) and runs from 2015-2019.