Eilat Smart City: reaching 0% emission by 2030
The city of Eilat is Israel’s southernmost city that shares a border with countries. 67000 residents are living in Eilat, while 3 Million tourists visit the city throughout the year. Its small size, remoteness from other communities and the extreme desert conditions have not hindered the immense leap the city made in the past decade. From a town established in 1950, Eilat is now a leading smart city. Our greatest achievement to date is that 100% of the city’s daytime electricity is from renewable sources. The COVID crisis impacted the city severely, since 80% of the residents are part of the tourism sector, yet Eilat is recovering at a quick pace, by diversifying the economy, by sustainable development and our long-term smart city vision that sets our governance and everyday municipal conduct. The city’s remoteness creates the dependency of the residents, and close-by communities, on the municipality that needs to provide more than the usual municipal services. This unique and challenging state drives us to create a resilient and sustainable city, where the environment is protected, while the economy is growing and improving the residents’ well-being and prosperity. The city will double its size in the upcoming years, which brings rapid economic change and large investments across sectors: the formation of an entire ecosystem of aquaculture (a public-private research park) and the renewable energy sector, with large investments, planned PV plant and successful completed pilots of PV solar deployment by citizens, of-the-grid schools, smart energy management and more. We believe it is imperative to align smart city implementation with sustainable development, and one will not impair the other. Together with the large-scale audacious projects, such as getting ready to disconnect the city from the national grid, small projects are being carried out on a regular basis, actions that create incremental yet meaningful change in the everyday lives of the residents.