Cittàmetropolitana di Torino

The call for tender, for the selection of an Energy Service Company (ESCo) to which assign the commitment of upgrading and managing the public lighting systems of the municipalities of Azeglio, Baldissero Torinese, Bibiana, Bussoleno, Pecetto Torinese and Rivalta Torinese, has been published last January by the Metropolitan City of Torino.

3.075 street lamps are affected by the intervention with a minimum investment tender budget of 1,4 million euros (VAT excluded). The tender, which also includes the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance, is the second to be launched under the European Project 2020Together - CIP-IEE Programme, Intelligent Energy for Europe / Mobilizing Local Energy Investments - MLEI.

The deadline for the submission of the bids is the 5th of April 2017, but by the 3rd of February 2017 the ESCos interested will have to book the required inspections.

As in the first race, dedicated to upgrading the energy efficiency of buildings and successfully awarded in 2016, the model of funding is innovative. Thanks to a partnership between public authorities and private investors, the latter undertakes the redevelopment at its own expense and is paid during the years depending on the actually achieved energy savings. In this way, the business risk is borne by the private and the municipality doesn’t have to anticipate expenses that are necessarily limited.

The tender is handled by the Metropolitan City of Torino that, as contractual authority, will provide the technical support needed by the local governments to obtain the necessary economies of scale.

All information and documents related to the tender are available at: http://www.cittametropolitana.torino.it/servizi/appalti/gare.shtml

In January 2017 the Municipalities of Bruino, None, Orbassano, Piossasco and Volverasigned the contract with Bosch Energy and Building Solutions Italy srl, the company who won the first call for tender of the European 2020Together project (Intelligent Energy Europe Programme), for the energy improvement and management of 18 public buildings, including 15 schools, 1 city hall and 2 gyms.

The total investment offered by the Energy Service Company (ESCo), Bosch, amounts to more than 2.9 million euro (excluding VAT), and will ensure more than 60% of energy savings. The 5 municipalities will benefit, from the beginning, of an 11.53% of cost savings per year, compared to the energy bills payed until today. After the period of concession to the ESCo, the historical expenditure will have a further decisive reduction.

The interventions proposed by the ESCo, are extremely interesting: in 15 cases, a structural intervention with thermal insulation of walls and roofs of buildings is planned. In other cases, we will see the replacement of windows and the installation of photovoltaic systems combined with heat pumps; in all buildings, new central heating systems will replace the old ones. 2 buildings will be certificated as Nearly Zero Energy buildings.

The Metropolitan City of Torino, with the support of the other partners, the Piedmont Region, the City of Torino and Environment Park, played successfully the function of contracting authority, helping local governments in getting important economies of scale and reaching the critical mass of investments, necessary to get best contractual conditions.

The call for tender proposed an innovative way of financing: a partnership between public authorities and ESCos: the ESCo realizes the interventions at its own expense but is re-paid by the energy savings during the years. Now, thanks to a private investor, the municipalities will be able to start these important interventions on their buildings, that otherwise would not have been able to realize, due to their limited spending power

The Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Torino, the five mayors of the municipalities that will benefit of the interventions and the representative of Bosch Energy and Building Solutions Italy have released some short interviews.

You can see them in a video posted on Youtube:

Filmato: Intervista ai Sindaci dei Comuni interessati dal bando di gara per la selezione di una Energy Service Company (ESCO) per l'efficientamento energetico di edifici pubblici
Durata: 07' 07"

The experience gained by the Piedmont Region on EPC investments, thanks to the 2020Together Project, will be further developed inside the new European STEPPING project, co-financed by the MED Programme. The goal of STEPPING, in which the Piedmont Region is the leader, is to fit the EPC investment scheme to the MED conditions, which are not comparable with those of the countries of Central and Northern Europe. In particular, with this transnational action based on sharing experiences between 9 partners from 7 different Countries of the MED area, a future development and testing on EPC investments and tenders will be possible. The project work plan is based on:

• analysis of projects, completed or under way, on EPC investments, made in the MED area by the project partners or other institutions, in order to identify obstacles and solutions to overcome them;
• development and testing of 8 new EPC solutions investment plans for public buildings in at least 65 municipalities in the partner countries, also involving the islands communities. The investment plans will be tested with the launch of call for tenders aiming at verify the feasibility;
• evaluation of the results of the tenders as a test ground validation of the effectiveness of the implemented procedures;
• implementation of guidelines on EPC in the MED area;
• transfer of the results within the partners procedures;
• involvement of a broad public audience through communication and training activities.

The experience developed within the project will be implemented by partner institutions and widely disseminated at European level.

The process and the results achieved by the 2020Together project were successfully presented at international level during the event "Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place" organized by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises - EASME in Brussels in January 2017.

Local authorities, industries and banks were invited to discuss the mobilization of investments for the development of sustainable energy.

The event was the opportunity to present the current initiatives at local, national and european level, improving the access to the financing initiatives on energy efficiency. The participants had a unique opportunity to compare and share their experiences in using innovative financing schemes with public funds leveraging the private ones in order to implement energy efficiency. Since 2009 have been activated, on the different European Programmes (Intelligent Energy Europe, Horizon 2020, ELENA), more than 120 projects that should trigger more or less 6 billion euro investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, focusing on public and private buildings, street lighting, district heating and sustainable urban transport.