“As the city council suggests, the citizens do too,” says Prat de Llobregat resident Carol Rodenas, standing under the new photovoltaic pergola just built on this site. This facility, which will also serve as a climate shelter, will generate megawatts of energy – equivalent to the annual consumption of 300 households – for the city’s water utilities and for the city energy park that El Prat will build in March 2022, of which Carroll is part. In this context, he said: “It is not just about the economic situation. It is about pride in being part of this transformation, reducing emissions, and supporting the net energy generated by the municipality itself.” It’s not that simple: to promote the energy transition, the city hall has equipped all municipal rooftops with photovoltaic panels. Moreover, it also has a range of shared electric cars, to decarbonize travel, explains Susana Laredo, coordinator of environmental action, energy and urban services at the Pratt City Council.
Betting on the local energy transition
Realizing that municipalities are a key player in the fight against climate change, the Barcelona Provincial Council has made a firm commitment to accelerate the implementation of renewable energy projects in the province’s municipalities. Specifically, the Renewables 2030 Program has invested €159.9 million from 2022 to strengthen the business of photovoltaic power plants in Teulada or on land, the energy communities that derive energy from these facilities, biomass boilers and public lighting renovation projects. In the municipality of Tuna, for example, the city’s 2,600 lamps have been replaced with LEDs.
Sunlight for LED lights. Pep Valdioriola, a technician at the local energy agency of the Osuna Regional Council, explains that consumption has been reduced by 62%, which represents an annual cost of 344 thousand kilowatt-hours and about 60 thousand euros. Berta Overell, resident of Tuna, made an important clarification: “Citizens may not see the economic return so much, but here we notice: not only in the field of security, because the light is stronger and warmer, but because there is a very clear symbol that the city council is committed to the energy transition, and because at the individual level we can also contribute to our great good.”
In total, the Renewable Energy 2030 Calls invested €159.9 million to finance 748 renewable energy facilities. 190 municipalities out of 311 in the province of Barcelona have benefited. Details of each project, as well as information grouped by municipality, region and classification, can be viewed on the portal. https://gisportal.diba.cat/sitac/R2030/
On the coasts of municipalities
Barcelona Provincial Council has made it clear that the priorities for the energy transition are to reduce emissions and costs, but also aim to promote energy independence for local communities, improve efficiency and democratize energy management. We must also provide resources accordingly, not only economic resources, but also technical ones. Pep Valdioriola sums up: “It seems that supporting the Regional Council, which owns 90% of the investment and which has donated the most important subsidy in the history of Tuna, would be impossible. But technical support is no less important, as it helps us formulate projects that will be implemented at any given time.”
Virginia Domingo, environmental and landscape technician at Granollers, explains that the photovoltaic power plant on the Can Cabanyes land, recently built in the municipality, will produce 4,100 kilowatt-hours per year of net energy for the environmental infrastructures owned by Consorci Besòs Tordera and Consorci per a la Gesció dels Residus Vallès Oriental. Moreover, the surplus will be pumped into the forest because the industrial sector, citizens and municipalities will benefit. It is a great example of a circular energy economy, explains Vanessa Abad, waste management area manager at the Valles Oriental waste station, which supplies energy from the Can Cabañes photovoltaic plant: “The plant itself provides energy, besides the one that produces the salt, from organic waste management and “with our photovoltaics in Teulada, we can cover 80% of our consumption.” Exy is very close to energy, he explains.
In Manresa, the city council has equipped the Ville Congost Sports Complex with a biomass heat exchanger, and both boilers are fed with firewood from the forest network. The six 1600 kW heat the city sports equipment. This is the third that has spread and the one that flew in the fourth, explains Joan Collado, head of the Department of Intellectuals and City Intelligence of the City Council. They also installed photovoltaic panels in municipal equipment. “It represents a 30% recession,” Collado said. “But it is not just something: it is a model for the city and the community. It is important to add people to the project, by educating young children.”
