One of the great bets of the municipal area of Environment of the City Council of La Laguna for this 2022 will be the promotion of the creation of energy communities in the municipality, formed by neighbors and SMEs that produce, manage and consume energy from renewable sources, from local and non-profit way.
“That will be the fundamental objective on which we are going to focus to work, because the potential that energy communities have is brutal. There is going to be a huge development and many subsidies are going to come, ”said the councilor responsible for the area, José Luis Hernández.
The idea that the area is working on is to give space on the roofs of buildings and municipal spaces to energy communities that are interested in placing photovoltaic installations there, and that cannot have their own space. “We have many surfaces and the idea would be that, if an interested energy community arises that does not have, then to be able to give it a municipal cover, and that is what we are legally articulating to see how it can be done, but we believe that it is possible”, the mayor pointed out.
José Luis Hernández advanced that he trusts that already this year an energy community will be created in Punta del Hidalgo, in relation to the photovoltaic panels that the City Council will install in the local school for self-consumption, and that it has already gone out to tender, within the framework of the plan launched by the area to create a municipal network of photovoltaic installations, initially in nine citizen centers, six educational centers and three solar pergolas in parking areas.
“The installation in the school will be for internal consumption and the idea is that the surplus can be used by the energy community that is formed, since in the surroundings there is a group of neighbors, with whom we have been working for several months, who have a lot of interest, and taking advantage of that facility, may be the impetus to create this community, in which the City Council would also enter ”, explained the mayor.
But the area is also in contact with other neighborhood groups interested in the subject “and we are going to try to call a meeting to see if there are people who are encouraged to ask for the subsidies that exist and one of these energy communities can be created”, Hernández indicated.
At the same time, the Environment has started a file for the contracting of external support for the application of a subsidy that would allow the drafting of another between 40 and 50 projects of photovoltaic installations in the municipal network. The City Council has studied the photovoltaic potential of 70 sports and educational buildings and citizen centers, which has revealed that the roofs of these buildings would allow generating eight times more energy than they consume.
In addition, recently, the technological engineering company IN2 has been awarded the creation of the computer system that will allow identifying and controlling the energy costs of the local Administration, promoting the energy transition process that the area is developing, which is based on the efficiency and the use of renewable energies, and promoting transparency and citizen participation in this area. The project includes specific management software and the creation of the municipality’s first application open to citizens, which will be integrated into the Our City Our Energy project.
55% less gas emissions
It should be remembered that the City Council has committed, within its Action Plan for Climate and Sustainable Energy, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55% since 30% of the energy consumed in the municipality comes from renewable sources, all before 2030 and through a multi-year strategy with actions that will involve an investment of almost 36 million.
