Vivian Bouzali
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
We extend a warm thank you to everyone for being here today with us.
A special and happy day for us, adding one more historic moment to the settlement of Aspra Spitia, in Distomo Beach, turning it into a smart city.
This is a day we want to celebrate with you, with the residents of the settlement and our associates, or with our future associates, with all of you, our guests.
This is a day of celebration not just because we are innovating at this historic site, but because MYTILINEOS adds one more object to its activity stemming from the synergies of its four Business Units: The Smart Cities platform.
We therefore turned our settlement into an innovation laboratory, to bring the future closer, a future full of possibilities.
So, this is it: MYTILINEOS Smart Cities. Services, applications, products targeted to cities, communities, settlements, and even large organizations seeking to create sustainable, smart societies, making easier the everyday lives of citizens and residents.
At the same time, for cities, communities wishing to reduce their environmental footprint, leveraging the benefits of technology.
Vivian Bouzali
Our Chairman clearly presented the vision of the company's activity in the new, ever-changing environment.
At this point, I would like to call on Yiannis Kalafatas-General Manager of Financial Services, who had the overall coordination of the development of our new project, to join me on stage.
While waiting Yiannis to come up on stage, I would like to dwell on MYTILINEOS comparative advantage: Its Business Units that enable us to develop the services, products or applications that we firstly used for us.
One typical example is the new CCGT electricity production already in operation at the energy center of Agios Nikolaos. It was created by the Sustainable Development Project Units for MYTILINEOS Power & Gas Business Unit; we are now building such plants around the world, as we recently took over in England.
Yiannis Kalafatas
Good afternoon.
I would also like to thank you for today's event, which, as Vivian has said, is important to our company.
The reason is that with the Smart Cities platform we come to showcase some of the total Energy Utility that MYTILINEOS has been transformed into over the years.
It has been transformed into an organization that produces and provides energy, creates the infrastructure for production, trades electricity and gas, creates innovative products and services for consumers, not being simply limited to energy packages, as we will show today.
Our company, having the privilege of owing our own settlement, almost all the Business Units of the company cooperated to create a unique project that makes us proud: to turn the historic settlement of Aspra Spitia, in Distomo Beach into a smart city, starting with four use cases, with endless possibilities.
Vivian Bouzali
Yiannis, before we explain what we did in Aspra Spitia, I would like to describe what a 'smart' city is.
A "smart" city is a city that lives and breathes through its people, while giving priority to its technological upgrading. For example, an energy community is being developed with additional digital innovations aimed at improving the quality of life, as said, improving the way we exploit resources, making them more efficient and, of course, rendering more efficient any activity of citizens.
It highlights the value of the community and its people's potential, where the consumer is now becoming a producer and is controlling consumption.
In this way - using digital technologies - the existing structures and facilities will be upgraded offering effective interaction with citizens, with security and reliability. In addition, by optimizing the use of resources, the direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions will be minimized.
Dear Yiannis, since you are a man of numbers, you have some interesting statistics to show us
Yiannis Kalafatas
Numbers speak the truth most of the times.
As we talk about cities and even 'smart' cities, let us look at some data and figures relating to cities.
Cities therefore cover only 7% of the earth's surface, which is not water but house more than 50% of the world's population.
They account for over 75% of the world's energy consumption and over 70% of carbon dioxide emissions.
In large cities, around 2,5 billion cubic meters of water are consumed annually but are lost due to losses and network leakages of around 500 million cubic meters representing 21% of annual consumption
Finally, cities produce around 2 billion tons of solid waste each year, with an ascending trend of about twice as high by 2030.
These are just a few of the data generated daily in cities and they provide useful material for developing smart solutions that can improve the urban environmental footprint, managing natural resources and their availability as well as waste management.
We are therefore called upon to manage as humanity a figure of 8 million people, according to last week's data.
It is therefore needed to ensure the best possible management to be able to survive and have a quality of life.
We, therefore, need to contribute in any way possible to respond to this challenge. This is what MYTILINEOS company does; Having endorsed all ESG criteria, it is implementing sustainable development policies and is doing business adhering to sustainability.
Vivian Bouzali
MYTILINEOS created a new platform for “smart” cities, the “Smart Cities” platform.
Through innovative services, applications, innovative tools and products addressed to cities, communities, settlements and even large organizations seeking to create sustainable, "smart" societies, we aim at creating an easier and sustainable day-to-day life for citizens and residents.
The use of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technologies creates sustainable and 'smart' societies with unlimited potential for the benefit of citizens.
Cities with friendly services that provide easy solutions, interact at all levels, offer opportunities, reduce costs, respect the environment, but above all remain humane and sustainable.
Yiannis Kalafatas
In this way, Aspra Spitia settlement, in Distomo Beach, takes on a new form and is transformed into a platform for innovation, which can positively change people’s way of living, offering a holistic experience of advanced living through new technologies and applications that make life easier for both a household and an entire community.
The pilot project in the settlement of Aspra Spitia was implemented with the aim to showcase the benefits a city may enjoy as it advances in its energy transformation. In this context, solar parks installed on the roofs of houses and domestic energy storage batteries have a significant share aimed at optimally using the produced energy.
A new world opens up with endless possibilities, through flexible applications and artificial intelligence technologies. Aspra Spitia settlement is paving the way for a ‘greener’ and more sustainable future.
Vivian Bouzali
I think we can now give more explanation and say which are these 4 use cases we started with.
I would like to start with Smart Energy Management, since we are an energy company and for us the priority is not only energy production but also its proper management.
Smart Energy Management makes a substantial contribution to energy transformation through “smart” ways.
The user, the so-called prosumer as the term has been coined by the word produce and consume, is able to do both at the same time.
The prosumer can learn about the CO2 emissions reduction from the consumption levels, as well as about the ‘green’ energy produced and consumed in the energy neutrality target scale.
At the same time, prosumers can significantly reduce power bills.
With the installation of PV systems the user produces its own energy, which is then stored in dedicated batteries to be fully leveraged.
The fully autonomous system-platform, through the dedicated algorithms developed by MYTILINEOS, aims to meet the energy needs of residents as much as possible from green energy while maximizing the overall life cycle of the battery, with indirect economic benefit.
In this way, the energy consumption and the general energy function of the household are not disrupted at any point and the user does not perceive any possible temporary changes in the operating flow.
Through the interactive platform, the prosumer is able to use simple indicators and diagrams, understand the system's operation, see the reduction of CO2 emissions for the household, see how green it is - both daily and annually - how much solar energy has been used (either directly or through the battery) and overall how much the "dirty" energy absorbed by the network has been limited.
Finally, if equipped with an electric vehicle bidirectional charger (V2B), the prosumer can easily control its charging level while the excess energy of the car battery can be utilized for the household's energy needs.
Therefore, the user charges, stores and… "discharges" the environment by exchanging the remaining "green" energy.
Yiannis Kalafatas
The system's 3 main benefits are the following:
In addition, through the Prosumer Energy Management system, it is possible to create a smart and interactive energy community once anyone can install and use the equipment to enjoy the above benefits.
Yiannis Kalafatas
The second use case we implemented here in Aspra Spitia is Smart Poles.
The residents have possibly seen their smart poles that we have installed along the beach.
It is worth noting that this is entirely MYTILINEOS creation because we have designed, built and developed its installation system.
Smart Poles are energy-autonomous and operate on the green energy they produce from their own photovoltaic panels and wind turbines.
Smart Poles enable citizens have access to:
At the same time, municipalities through their administrators can inform citizens about what is happening in the city.
It is possible to directly send messages to citizens to raise awareness and engage them in environmental issues related to sustainability and circular economy.
Finally, it is possible for the administrator to use remote central broadcasting audio.
Vivian Bouzali
The third use case relates to Smart Water Management
Smart Water Management is a better, preventive and cost-effective way of managing the settlement’s or the municipality’s water supply network.
It significantly contributes to detecting water leakages in the network and to the overall water saving in the settlement.
By digital mapping and modeling of the settlement’s/municipality’s water supply network and by replacing existing analog hygrometers with highly accurate digital ones, the operator can:
- save water reducing damage by immediately detecting and repairing leaks
- have access to remote measurements from the residents' hydro meters, accurately and at no additional cost
- have access to measurements of water consumption at the settlement level and by extension, strengthen awareness-raising actions for citizens
- forecast consumption in relation to ambient temperature and weather conditions
In the event of a breakdown in the network, the settlement can detect the point of the breakdown and discontinue the flow of water around this point, rather than switching off the supply across the network; in this way, not all residents will be affected.
Finally, residents can monitor their consumption on a daily basis, thus helping to save water in their household.
It therefore becomes clear how easy it is to properly manage water, one of our most important resources on the planet.
Yiannis Kalafatas
I would like to conclude with a final use case that we are implementing in Aspra Spitia, the Citizen Portal.
Before I discuss this use case, however, I would like to say that these are the first of the services we have started for our settlement. More applications are included in the Smart Cities platform beyond the ones we needed.
We intend to develop more applications in many areas, such as waste management, lighting systems, traffic management through smart traffic applications, making full use of 5G capabilities and so on that a municipality will be able to implement for its citizens.
Concepts and services such as: Blockchain, Smart Lightning, Connected public transport, Smart Parking, Public safety, Smart roads / Connected streetlights / Smart Traffic monitoring and management, Citizen/Tourist services.
Many words, many concepts, many services come into our lives to make it easier.
With the Citizen Portal, residents have on their mobile or tablet whatever needed to know their city even better and actively and interactively participate in it.
They have access to:
weather forecasts
At the same time, the municipality is able to better and faster manage the notifications of damage by automatically registering requests and assigning them to a technician.
The Citizen Platform aims primarily at the interaction between the Municipality with citizens, keeping a uniform attitude; it also aims at information exchange based on the data drawn from all available Smart Cities applications.
Vivian Bouzali
I would say that the citizen portal is not another information portal.
I would even dare say that it is a portal that promotes democracy, placing citizens to the fore, making their communication with their city more interactive and in the long run, citizens will even be able to take part in small referendum that will determine their future.
We are on the threshold of a very interesting period that will allow us to do a lot.
Yiannis Kalafatas
Yes, you're right Vivian. We, here in MYTILINEOS, are ready to create all the things that citizens, municipalities and the state anticipate in the future.
MYTILINEOS company is prepared, transformed and continues to do so on every occasion; it uses its experience to plant the future.
This is also recognized by our associates who choose the company in Greece and abroad.
We are proud in MYTILINEOS for being once again pioneers and we are proud that through this new service we are also promoting the principles of sustainability.
Words lose their meaning when they are not matched with deeds, and especially today - in the unprecedented times we live in - we must step up our efforts towards a future that is truly sustainable for all.
At MYTILINEOS, we have invested very early on in this. In fact, we have managed to keep the whole company focused on it, so that the sustainable development principles lie at the heart of its strategy.
It's embedded in our DNA and we're ready for the future.
Vivian Bouzali
I can take pride in saying that in this way, MYTILINEOS is established as a partner for innovation and progress also for local government, building a new framework of relations; it also strengthens local communities that turn into the first partakers of the company's new philosophy, i.e of providing integrated sustainable solutions that will upgrade their daily lives.
This is the vision of MYTILINEOS, and this is the idea behind Smart Cities.
For humane cities that implement transition into a friendlier and ‘greener’ reality, centered around modern citizens and the city of the future.
They will be the citizens of the future. They will live in smart cities with unlimited possibilities.
As our Chairman stressed, the future is already here.
Thank you, and I would like to invite you to celebrate our day with street food and a lot of music.
Have a great time.
