Thanks to the experience gained during Triangulum, Leipzig’s transnational project EfficienCE has been approved by European Commission within the Interreg Central Europe programme. EfficienCE aims at increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy usage in public transport infrastructures to reach local, regional and also EU energy targets. Most of the countries in central Europe have an average share of only 6.3% renewable energy and furthermore low applications of new technologies to increase energy efficiency in public transport infrastructures. So the countries are challenged with the EU’s target to achieve a 10% share of renewable energy in transport by 2020.
Leipzig is moving on from being a Triangulum Follower City and will now take over the responsibility for the project and will lead a consortium of eight cities including Budapest, Milano and Parma, companies like Wiener Linien, and scientific institutes, e.g. University of Maribor or Gdansk University of Technology.
The project has a budget of about 2.4 Mio. €. Partners will improve the use of renewable energy with measures like re-using brake energy of trams (Gdynia) or constructing an energy station with e-charging etc. (Maribor). Leipzig will develop an urban data platform with pilot cases in public transport and with a participative process of all relevant stakeholders. The aim of the project is to better exploit the potentials of data-based traffic planning and organization. The project will start in April 2019 and will last three years.