The Andalusian Minister of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities, the Mayor of Malaga and the General Director of Endesa in Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, have presented the project that will be developed in Malaga TechPark.
Malaga TechPark will become the first sustainable urban space to implement a Circular City of the future model in a real environment that will be sustainable, eco-efficient, 100% renewable and digital in 2027. To achieve this, an open ecosystem of public-private collaboration will be created, promoted by the Junta de Andalucía, the Malaga City Council, Malaga TechPark and Endesa, which will ensure the deployment of the first elements to prepare the site and evolve towards a benchmark space in circularity .
In this way, Endesa will offer its investment capacity with a forecast of more than 30 million euros, which will be a key driving force to ensure a strong start-up of the project.
Malaga TechPark will be the first urban space to apply standars of the circular cities of the future to turn this environment of technological innovation into a benchmark also in sustainability in 2027, thanks to Endesa’s #eCityMalaga project, advancing climate and energetic objectives established by the United Nations for 2050 by more than two decades
The Andalusian Minister of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities and president of Málaga TechPark, Rogelio Velasco; the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the general manager of Malaga TechPark, Felipe Romera; and the general director of Endesa in Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, Rafael Sánchez Durán, have presented Endesa’s #eCityMalaga project to respond to the main climate challenges on the planet such as climate change, air pollution, loss of natural resources and accumulation of waste from the perspective of cities.
In this way, the #eCityMalaga project will respond to the challenges defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Action Plan for Climate and Sustainable Energy and the Action Plan for the Circular Economy of the European Union, as well as such as the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan in a 5-year horizon.
With this, an eco-efficient city, making better use of resources; renewable, through self-consumption systems, parking lots with solar energy and smart electrical grids that allow local and shared use; innovative compared to the current model, in the design and application of solutions for the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials; and digital, through collaborative platforms that improve the model based on use versus property and, in general, on people’s well-being will be achieved.
This Circular City project follows the path of the eCity projects initiated by Endesa and, in this case, also part of the experience accumulated by the SmartCity Malaga project that Endesa launched in 2009, as well as its SmartCity Living Lab, a laboratory to develop efficiency measures, energy saving and active management of the demand of individuals, buildings and large clients.
“The planet is already giving us warning signs, we have to do something to stop this model of mass consumption that occurs especially in cities. #eCityMalaga wants to be the first real example that this paradigm shift is possible, and it is if we all work hand in hand, public and private entities ”, said the general director of Endesa in Andalusia and Extremadura, Rafael Sánchez, who has added that “the circular city model in which economic growth is decoupled from resource consumption and environmental deterioration is possible, and it is in the short term, in 2027 #eCityMalaga will be a circular city”.
Velasco has remarked that “it is an ambitious, pioneering purpose, which will allow, together with the one already being carried out in the Cartuja Science and Technology Park, to place these facilities at the forefront of sustainability and energy efficiency”. In his opinion, “the project is an example of how a space for business development should be promoted as an example of sustainability that can be exported to cities in general”.
The head of Economic Transformation has explained that his department is carrying out “actions that seek to promote sustainable, inclusive and intelligent growth, which incorporates an economic development model in which technology, knowledge and innovation are positioned as key elements”. “From the Board we are committed to transforming Andalusia into a ‘Smart Region’ and bringing smart cities to all municipalities, including the smallest ones, so that they take advantage of the same innovations and the same benefits that large cities already enjoy”, has apostilled.
In his speech, Rogelio Velasco wanted to encourage public and private entities that operate or have their headquarters in the technology park to participate and develop the strategies to follow in each of the project’s pillars.
The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, has highlighted that this project is in absolute harmony with the strategic axes of the city, which are committed to sustainability and innovation as the necessary combination to make cities more livable and with a higher quality of life. He also has underlined that eCityMálaga is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals to which the Malaga City Council is firmly committed and has valued that, once again, public-private collaboration allows pioneering projects in the city of Malaga to test, and in this case develop, solutions that are then applied on a global scale. In this sense, it has been proud that Malaga is at the forefront of innovation.
This challenge will be achieved thanks to an open ecosystem of public-private collaboration that will have a clear impulse from the administration, with the original coverage of the Junta de Andalucía, the Malaga City Council, Malaga TechPark and Endesa, which will ensure the deployment of the first basic elements to prepare the enclosure and evolve towards a reference space in circularity.
Likewise, Endesa’s investment capacity of around 30 million euros and a governance model for the participating institutions will be key dynamic elements to overcome the initial implementation barriers that circular cities have and ensure a strong start-up of the project.
Work Areas
Energy: The #eCityMalaga project will be the first urban prototype that applies circular energy, that is, that generation and consumption will become benchmarks in efficiency thanks to the use of locally distributed resources, the development of renewable energy, greater electrification and flexible platforms that promote local energy communities.
City: Street furniture plays an important role in this circular city of the future that Malaga TechPark is going to become. The daily elements will give information on their behavior and will be tools to improve the efficiency of the city. Mobility will be sustainable. The current fleet of vehicles is planned to be renewed with zero-emission vehicles and a plan for car parks and charging infrastructures, among other things.
Ecosystem: Water, wooded areas and waste management are key for #eCityMalaga to become a reality. The treatment of raw water for irrigation will be modernized, generating one of the bases of the Circular Economy of this urban model of the city, as well as the increase in wooded area. Waste will be monitored with the aim of reducing it by 50%.
Digital: #eCityMalaga is the ideal setting for the intelligent management of a city, applying an Open Data philosophy. In the first phase, digital platforms will integrate services such as public lighting, but in the long term these platforms will be able to cover areas such as operational processes, logistics, air quality and even connected vehicles for traffic management.
Subsequently, #eCityMalaga will be a benchmark thanks to the use of Transactive Energy systems, which will incorporate the advantages of blockchain technology and smart contracts on the integration of the park’s distributed energy resources.