• The power company, with the support of the Town Council, will invest almost 800,000 euros in the development and construction of a Nearly Zero emissions system, an initiative which will enable part of the municipality to run exclusively on renewable energy sources and features an automated monitoring system. 
  • The installation will provide an emissions reduction of nearly 570 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and almost 20% on the energy bill for the municipal buildings included in the project per year. 

GAS NATURAL FENOSA, in consortium with WATTIA, and with the collaboration of the Olot Town Council has launched a pioneering project in Spain which will supply heating, cooling and power to a district network in the Olot municipality powered by renewable energy and with an intelligent automated monitoring system. The Plaza del Mercado Square in Olot will house the system's central facilities.

Today, the Mayor of Olot, Josep Maria Corominas, Gas Natural Servicios Director for Commercial Real Estate and Energy Solutions, José Luis Lloret, and one of the founding partners at Wattia, Franc Comino, presented the project and outlined its benefits for the municipality.

The project will be one of the first of its kind in Multienergy District Heating and Cooling in Spain and will make Olot one of the first cities in Spain to have a renewable energy trigeneration system: the system combines geothermal, biomass and natural gas technology. There are two factors that make Olot an ideal location for this pioneering project: on the one hand, the area itself is committed technologically speaking to sustainable energy, and on the other the municipality has a dense forest covering.

The initiative will service a municipal network including five municipal buildings: The Sant Jaume Hospital, the Montsacopa Care Home for the Elderly, the La Caridad Care Home for the Elderly, the Museo Comarcal de la Garrotxa museum and the recently renovated Plaza del Mercado indoor market. Furthermore, a possible expansion is planned to include the Maria Vayreda Public Library, the Olot Social Welfare building and the Olot Higher Education Foundation.

The cooling and heating network will reduce 570 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions a year and the energy bill by 50,000 euros for the five buildings included in the project over the coming 13 years of service.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA has invested almost 800,000 euros in the launch of the project and its local partner, Wattia, is undertaking and specialises in the automated management of the network and the integration of the different energy systems.

Functioning of the system

The system has natural gas powered boilers, two biomass powered boilers (with funding from the Girona Regional Council), a 180 KW geothermal system and a 28 KWp solar system. Half a kilometre of network will also be built in the Olot city centre.

The buildings included in the project will be heated, cooled and powered by an optimum combination of energy saving measures, automated systems and renewable energy sources.

The first Multienergy District Heating and Cooling system features high levels of building automation, which enables the production of energy depending on the weather forecast for the area thanks to the professional weather station fitted in the system. Furthermore, the network is environmentally friendly and will include an "Energy Room" installed in the Sant Jaume Hospital where all the sources of energy will converge and be distributed outside the District.

In order to raise awareness on the system, an information campaign will be launched entitled Olot Respira!, using the project as an educational and promotional tool on energy through fold-out brochures, posters and an LED screen giving information on energy savings and reductions of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions that the system allows for. Lastly, the system will be promoted in schools and an energy efficiency seminar will be held for professionals in the field.

"The satisfaction of those of us who have been committed to the project from the outset is twofold, since we are able to present the project in the newly renovated town market, the first building in the district network, and because Olot is a leading capital in energy efficiency", said Olot's Mayor at the presentation ceremony. The Gas Natural Servicios Director for Commercial Real Estate and Energy Solutions added that it "is of great significance for the company to undertake innovative projects that enable us to back energy efficiency and pursue optimal energy solutions tailored to the needs of each area". Franc Comino, from Wattia, remarked that "after successfully overcoming the technological challenge posed by the EspaiZero de Olot project, the first fully self-sufficient building in Spain, we want to extend the application of the know-how obtained from this cutting-edge technology to provide the most energy efficient power to the buildings in Olot town centre".


GAS NATURAL FENOSA in Girona


GAS NATURAL FENOSA, through its distribution company, has been operating in Olot since 1995, year in which it began to provide its services to the inhabitants. Since then, Gas Natural Distribución has extended and improved its distribution network to reach the current 105 kilometres and has over 9,400 supply points. In recent years the company has invested 2 million euros in the Garrotxa region.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA, through its distribution company, has added over 5,000 supply points and invested over 8.5 million euros in the Girona province over the last year. The distribution company intends to continue to expand in coming years, supporting energy efficiency initiatives in its operations, including, among others, the new canalisation criteria and innovating the design of its installations, as well as providing the economic and environmental benefits of natural gas as a source of energy.

Furthermore, GAS NATURAL FENOSA currently has over 60 Gas Natural Servicio clients with which it is implementing energy efficiency projects, mainly in the industrial, hotel and commercial sectors, investing nearly 2.5 million euros.

WATTIA

WATTIA boasts the accumulated experience of the merger of two energy efficiency companies: IGETECH INNOVA SL, company specialising in home and building automation and ANALITZADORS ASSESSORIA ENERGÈTICA SL, company specialising in electricity metering and industrial process control with over 10 years' experience in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors and in the use of advanced monitoring tools developed with proprietary technology.

Barcelona, 4 December 2014.

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