Last September, a delegation from the follower cities visited Pamplona as part of the European Smart City project – STARDUST. Over the course of their two-day visit organized by the project partner Greenovate!Europe, members of the delegation were given a detailed walk-through of the main solutions implemented in Pamplona as part of the STARDUST project and how they may be replicated in other cities, including their own.
The representatives from Cluj-Napoca, Derry, and Kozani had the opportunity to visit the various actions related to sustainable mobility strategies and clean energy that have been implemented in Pamplona, such as the industrialised photovoltaic roof of the Municipal Police building, with a microgrid by CENER which comes equipped with second-life batteries developed and installed by BeePlanet. This seemed to be one of the actions that garnered the most attention from the follower cities representatives due to the innovative character of using second-life car batteries and its interesting business model.
Additionally, the group also visited an all-new electric taxi charging station, fed with energy from the photovoltaic roof of the new bus station, as well as the new district heating and management system deployed and financed (in part) by Nasuvinsa. All the visitors showed a lot of interest in the way this plant is run and had the chance to identify the similarities and differences that would allow their cities to replicate the district heating initiative.
This activity allowed some of the follower cities that have replicated e-mobility activities to compare their own systems and implementations to those present in Pamplona and learn about best practices and further improvements.
Some of the other solutions implemented as part of the STARDUST project that the delegation had the opportunity to see in person included an electric bus line connecting the train station with the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), with its pantograph – a special drop-down device mounted at the two charging stations installed at the first and last bus stops, and connecting with microgrid with a photovoltaic roof and batteries at UPNA.
At the Eguíllor drinking water treatment plant, the group was able to discover and learn more about its innovative hygrothermal air conditioning system, and the Navarra Social Housing programme with its energy management platform.
The STARDUST project will conclude in March 2024, with a final event in Pamplona, organised by the City Council of Pamplona and CENER on the 28 and 29 February, where all partners are expected to be in attendance.
