Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and the largest city of Poland, with a population of 1.7 million (agglomeration - up to 3.3 million).
The city boasts an extremely high proportion of public transport use at nearly 60%. Warsaw is advanced in this field, with over 50% of public transport journeys made with electric-powered trams, trains and metro. Additionally, the municipal bus fleet includes 4 hybrid, 10 electric and 35 gas-powered buses, while plans for 2020 envisage as many as 130 electric and hybrid buses.
The City of Warsaw enjoys one of 2 largest district heating systems in the EU. The system services almost 80% of citizens and covers 65% of the city’s needs, supplying 11,000 GWh of thermal energy per year. The energy mix for 2014 was as follows (primary energy consumed): RES - 5.5%, natural gas – 21.5%, coal – 73%.
In addition to supporting smaller RES installations in its area, Warsaw cooperates with local energy companies in order to reduce the above-mentioned share of coal in the energy mix in favour of natural gas and biomass.
The city’s energy initiatives are closely tied with the commitment to the Covenant of Mayors, which Warsaw signed in 2009, and submitted a Sustainable Energy Action Plan in 2011. The SEAP’s goals are:
- 80% of CO2 emissions in 2020 compared to 2007,
- 80% of energy consumption in 2020 compared to 2007,
- at least 20% of energy produced from RES in 2020.
Among other documents relevant for energy/climate and urban planning are: Study of Conditions and Directions of Spatial Development of the Capital City of Warsaw, Assumptions for Plan of Supply with Heat, Electricity and Gas Fuels or Low-Carbon Economy Plan.
Local working group Warsaw
The following 11 partners are represented in the local LWG:
- Infrastructure Department (coordinator),
- Architecture and Spatial Planning Department,
- Environmental Protection Department,
- Housing Policy and Revitalization Department,
- Roads and Transportation Department,
- Warsaw Transport Authority,
- Polish Association of Construction Developers,
- Institute of Power Engineering,
- PGNiG TERMIKA S.A.,
- RWE Stoen Operator Sp. z o.o.,
- Veolia Energia Warszawa S.A.
The group, which was established for purposes of URBAN LEARNING, aims to assist in transformation of Warsaw towards modern, sustainable metropolis, by using instruments and tools of integrated energy planning. The model for such transformation is to be a project of Low-Carbon Area. We plan to create a city area, which will feature solutions on behalf of energy efficiency, natural environment and low GHG emissions, both in the field of city planning, energy networks, buildings construction, transport, waste management, and water and wastewater management Another Horizon 2020 action helping Warsaw in preparing a Low-Carbon Area is a smart cities project Sharing Cities – SHAR-LLM, starting in 2016.
See Warsaw's approaches towards integrative energy planning at one glance.