On Sunday, 22 April 2018, 15 people from our Follower City Leipzig in Germany got aboard a plane to visit our Lighthouse City Stavanger in Norway to learn more about the smart implementations happening there. Politicians, city representatives and mobility and transport representatives first visited the county council and the Triangulum partner Lyse, followed by an entire day at the municipality. During a joint dinner on Monday evening, which was hosted by the county council, people from Leipzig and Stavanger had the chance to really get to know each other as well as each other’s visions and to lay the foundation for an even deeper cooperation aimed at the replication of smart and innovative ideas.
Battery Bus in Full Function (Picture: Stavanger Kommune)
On Monday, the deputy county council mayor of Stavanger welcomed the Leipzig delegation and provided a general introduction to the programme of the day, thus welcoming the guests. Afterwards, the entire group drove to the new Kolumbus main bus station, which has only recently been built with the capacity of the old diesel and the new battery fleet. There, they also had a look at the newly built bus lanes. In the afternoon, the group went to visit Lyse where they listened to a general presentation with a focus on e-mobility, new platform based business models and how solar panels, storage and EV chargers can be utilized together. The Lyse partners showed them live examples of smart fast chargers and illustrated the technical know-how behind them. The day ended where it started: at the county council. During a presentation, the Leipzig delegation learned more about the building of Europe’s biggest bus rapid transit system BRTS, which is 50 km longs and which will be using only battery busses from 2023 on. Therefore, test drivings with three Triangulum battery busses are happening right now, on a daily basis within existing bus routes.
Representatives of Leipzig and Stavanger at the Kolumbus Main Bus Station, Stavanger (Picture: Stavanger Kommune)
On Tuesday, the visitors from Leipzig spent the day at the municipality. They were welcomed by the Mayor of Stavanger Christine Sage Helgø. They first listened to a general Triangulum project presentation, followed by a presentation of the progress in the Lighthouse City Stavanger in particular. For example, various smart parking systems in Stavanger were highlighted. In the afternoon, two parallel sessions were offered: One about climate and environmental actions and projects within Stavanger and one about energy solutions within the municipality.
After these two days full of new, smart and innovative ideas, I am sure that Leipzig went home with lots of new experiences, memories and, of course, a lot to think about. We are excited and curious to see which activities they might replicate in Leipzig!
Listening to a presentation from the head of economical development at Stavanger Municipality (Picture: Stavanger Kommune)
At Lyse AS, were the the locally solar powered smart EV chargers are being showcased and explained (Picture: Stavanger Kommune)
