Our current projects
These are some examples of smart city projects that have currently in the process of being rolled out.
You can also view some of our past projects that have been completed.
Building Cladding
Cardiff Council is involved in a European funded Horizon 2020 project that is working to design and demonstrate a new building cladding system that maximises energy harvesting from renewable resources and reduces energy.
The project aims to understand the hour-by-hour energy use and the air conditions inside the properties, before installing the new cladding system, and after. Cardiff Council is installing a wide range of sensors inside properties to record this information such as Raspberry Pi, weather stations, temperature and humidity sensors.
District Heat Network
A heat network is a distribution system of underground, insulated pipes that takes heat from a central source and delivers it to connected buildings therefore reducing their reliance on fossil fuels for heat. The heat source is often a facility that provides a dedicated heat supply to the network, such as a combined heat and power plant. Other potential heat sources include waste heat recovered from industry and urban infrastructure, heat generated at energy from waste plants, and heat harvested from natural resources such as canals, rivers and underground water sources. Heat Networks can reduce reliance on fossil fuels for the heating of buildings and so form an important part of Government plans to reduce carbon and cut heating bills for customers.
The Council’s Capital Ambitions document commits the Council to develop sustainable heat network proposals for the City. This ambition relates to our climate change and carbon reduction commitments, especially the more recent WG target for all public sector organisations in Wales to be carbon neutral by 2030. The development of a successful heat network would also provide an opportunity to create a major new localised economic activity in the city as well as helping to develop Cardiff’s position as a forward thinking, low carbon business destination.
The Council’s long term, strategic objectives can therefore be summarised as to:
- Use Cardiff’s multiple heat sources to provide low cost heat supplies.
- Establish infrastructure allowing the long term decarbonisation of heat supplies.
- Provide long term, secure and locally sourced heat supplies.
- Provide low cost heat as an economic development benefit for new and existing businesses.
- Provide benefits to the overall economy in Cardiff and Wales more broadly.
Lamby Way Solar Farm
The Council’s capped landfill site at Lamby Way has for some time been considered to be a suitable location for a large scale solar farm which could:
- provide a substantial amount of clean, renewable energy to supply the local electricity grid and connected buildings,
- make a positive contribution to national and local renewable energy generation and carbon reduction targets,
- provide a localised economic activity and long-term productive use for a site that would be otherwise difficult to develop,
- contribute to the Welsh Government ambition for the Council and all public sector organisations in Wales to be “carbon neutral” by 2030.
