2019 is wrapping up and it is worth taking a look at what has been the biggest year of the Terrassa Intelligent Energy project, the TEI. A very ambitious project aimed at using the most modern technologies to save energy and improve the quality of life of Terrassa's people. A plan, in addition, that puts the city at the top of its league in energy policies and the fight against climate change.
The great project of the TEI is the renovation of public lighting. Since March, when the work began, and until the end of November, more than 20,000 streetlights have been changed, 70% of the total, and there are only about 8,800 left that are already being changed.. (You can follow the evolution here).
The new LED lights bring with them a huge reduction in energy consumption and polluting emissions, as well as the consequent economic savings. In addition to this, this big change implies an important technological renovation and an improvement: when the project is finished, there will be fewer dark points in the streets and the light will be more healthy and respectful with the citizens resting.
The lights change, also, inside the buildings. After an important energy audit, the TEI project includes renovation of the interior lighting in a large number of municipal buildings. Up to now, 13 facilities have seen their lights replaced: the Font de l'Alba, La Roda, Isaac Peral, Ramon y Cajal and Bisbat d'Ègara schools, the Special Education School El Pi, the Municipal School of Music and the building hosting the Municipal Board of Education.
A bet for cleaner energy
A third leg of the TEI plan is the generation of renewable energy for self-consumption, which will mean that some of the municipal buildings will be self-sufficient. There are 15 planned buildings, and six of them already have the solar plaques installed: the building of the City Hall central services, four schools and the Teatre Alegria theatre. Now, the panels are being installed at the Municipal Funerary Complex, and there are five more facilities where the plaques will be installed shortly.
And last, but not least, there's the renewal of the public transportation fleet with hybrid diesel-electric buses. Currently there are 16 hybrid vehicles, a quarter of the fleet. The first six started service in July 2017, and in 2019 ten more were incorporated. The next step is the arrival of six new hybrid vehicles, five buses and a minibus, which are expected to come into service in mid-2020.
And there are still more things: while the new street lights are installed, the 400 lighting control panels will be renewed, and the municipal optical fiber network is being expanded, making it accessible to these control panels for the deployment of The Internet of Things (IoT), linked to the Smart City Terrassa plan and that we will soon see with the Smart Building Terrassa project.
And why?
The main objective of the TEI project is energy saving. It is expected that, once the project is fully implemented, the city will be saving 17 million kWh each year and also will produce more than one million.
And all these measures, in addition, result in a very important reduction of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere: up to 5,699 tonnes less. A cleaner air and more life quality: benefits that are already becoming a reality and that will go further in the coming years.
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