Portugal pilot

REVERTER pilot – Coimbra, Portugal

Energy poverty has never been so hotly debated within the scope of public social and housing policies in Portugal. According to data recently published (2023, INE), and as a result of the public social policies to improve the minimum income, living conditions and fight against poverty, following the pandemic difficult year, the number of people at risk of poverty has decreased in 2021 to 16.4%, two percentage points less than in 2020. Energy poverty is not only a matter of social interest, but also a strategic pillar that is important to intervene to meet the targets imposed by the commitments to decarbonisation of the economy and the need to implement a fair energy transition.

About the pilot area

The Intermunicipal Community of Coimbra Region is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in October 2013 and correspond to NUT III – Coimbra Region. Since January 2015, Coimbra Region is also a NUTS3 sub-region of Centro Region, which covers the same area as the inter-municipal community. The main city and seat of the inter-municipal community is Coimbra. The Intermunicipal Community of Coimbra Region has a population of around 435 000 inhabitants, distributed over an area of 4 335,57km².

Climate

The city’s yearly temperature is 16.78ºC and it is -0.03% lower than Portugal’s averages. Coimbra typically receives about 92.11 millimeters of precipitation and has 105.45 rainy days (28.89% of the time) annually.

Longitude: -8.4102573
Latitude: 40.2033145
Attitude/Elevation: 40.19 m
Average annual high temperature: 20.99ºC
Average annual low temperature: 9.97ºC
Average annual precipitation: 92.11 mm
Warmest month: August (average temperature 29.64ºC)
Coldest Month: January (average temperature 5.39ºC)
Wettest Month: January (143.37 mm)
Driest Month: July (8.44 mm)
Average days of heating per year: Heating Degree Days in Coimbra Region – 136,5 (2022)
Average days of cooling per year: Cooling Degree Days in Coimbra Region: 114,4 (2022)

Target audience

The pilot will be focused on the most vulnerable households of the Municipality of Coimbra, who live in social houses under the management of the Municipality. These include a population of about 150 citizens, who live in the poorest neighborhood of the city; inhabitants facing the higher risk of poverty, mainly single parents, especially woman, unemployed and families with more than 3 children.

Roadmaps to be tested

The Coimbra Pilot will focus on developing 2 roadmaps (for buildings and houses) targeted to consumers who are particularly vulnerable concerning thermal comfort levels in their homes. Solutions will not focus only on the building envelope and energy-efficient appliances but also on the urgent need to switch fossil fuel-based heating and cooking systems using gas to electricity by promoting solar thermal and photovoltaics, as well as its integration in REC.

Social survey highlights: Energy Poverty in Coimbra, Portugal

An online social survey conducted in Coimbra, Portugal from May to August 2023 gathered input from 330 participants, guiding the development of One-Stop-Shops, personnel training, and strategic roadmaps. With outreach through emails, websites, and social media, this survey provided valuable insights to better support local communities.

Digital One-stop-shop in Portugal Renovar.coimbra.pt

Renovar.coimbra.pt is a digital One-stop-shop that has been developed to ease access to information about the renovation of multi-apartment buildings in Coimbra, Portugal. It allows residents of Coimbra municipality to get comprehensive information about the renovation process, support schemes, and information campaigns.

While Portugal's energy poverty rate is relatively low compared to other EU countries, it is still a significant issue that affects many people in the country, particularly those in rural and low-income communities.

Coimbra, Portugal

Energy poverty situation has been aggravated by the pandemic and the consequent economic crisis and current energy crisis. A large share of inhabitants cannot afford to carry out improvements and construction works or do not have the knowledge on how to start the renovation journey.

Roadmaps for Portugal

Guiding households on their ways of reducing their energy bills and improving the thermal comfort of their homes

This roadmap will lead households who are particularly vulnerable and living in social housing apartment buildings, under the management of the Municipality, to find solutions to improve their comfort levels and lower energy bills. The solutions will focus on the building envelope and energy-efficient appliances.

Overcome energy renovation barriers and facilitating the supply of renewable energy services

This roadmap will lead households who are particularly vulnerable and living in houses, in social neighbourhoods, to find solutions to improve their comfort levels and lower energy bills. The solutions will not focus only on the barriers for energy renovation of the houses, but also on the advantages to adopt renewable energy sources by promoting its integration in REC.

Partners responsible for REVERTER pilot in Portugal

Consortium partners The Institute of Systems and Robotics and Municipality of Coimbra are both involved and responsible for roadmap testing in Coimbra, Portugal. If you want to learn more about project implementation in this pilot, please contact the responsible consortium partners.

Institute of Systems and Robotics

The Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra (ISR-UC) is a private non-profit research institution founded in 1992 with the global purpose of setting up a multi-disciplinary research team, able to carry out leading edge research in: Human-Centered Mobile Robotics; Field Robotics; Medical Systems and Robotics; Computational Intelligence and Control; Artificial Perception and Cognition; Visual Perception; Intelligent Energy Systems.

Municipality of Coimbra (CMC)

Coimbra City Council is the municipal body of this municipality, and its mission is to define and implement policies with a view to defending the interests and meeting the needs of the local population.