According to a study conducted by Siemens, in Spain there is a potential of 4,200 million euro of private financing for the development of the smart city. The research has been carried out by Siemens Financial Services, which has assessed the potential for real financing that could come from the private sector in our country. Thanks to the use of private funds from SmartStart, cities could obtain additional funding for the smart transformation of the city.
The study was conducted in 13 countries and a total of 40 cities. The objective of the research has been to forecast the impact that private financing would have on the smart cities sector in these places. Public budgets are often insufficient to reach all the elements necessary to develop the smart city. Therefore, implementing private asset options could help the benefits of the smart city become popular on a large scale.
Thanks to the SmartStart projects that advance the process of building smart cities can be implemented
The study has focused on small-scale investments, so-called SmartStart. The SmartStart brings together the private capital that could be used in the implementation of intelligent systems at the service of citizens. The result of the investigation has calculated that, in Spain, this capital would be around 4,200 million euro.
If we applied these 4,200 million euro in SmartStart financing we could implement and enhance elements inherent of smart cities. These elements, in turn, would generate a reduction of the energy expenditure and would favor the efficiency of the systems. In this way, the investment would be paid back in a short time.
The research carried out by Siemens has identified up to 9 sectors where the SmartStart could be applied successfully:
1. Control of buildings (energy efficiency)
2. Improved medical technology
3. Online self-service for the citizen
4. Routes for vehicles
5. Parking systems
6. Road pricing
7. Qualification of mobile personnel
8. Electric vehicles and public electric transport
9. Low energy consumption street lighting
Asset financing agreements are ideal for financing SmartStart projects. Financing options are available, affordable, and much faster and easier to obtain. They offer a high transparency when it comes to the control of capital and its profitability. In addition, different financing techniques can be used based on their suitability for each project.
In the coming years, we are likely to see the private sector collaborating with the public administration in building smart cities. This will allow the innovations and benefits of smart cities to become a reality in a short time.
Carlos Sánchez Criado
Publicista por la Universidad Complutense. Director comercial de publicaciones técnicas del sector de la energía durante doce años. Director de Energy News Events, S.L. desde 2012 difundiendo información en Energynews.es, movilidadelectrica.com e hidrogeno-verde.es. Y por supuesto, organizando eventos como VEM, la Feria del Vehículo Eléctrico de Madrid.
