The German utility E.ON returns to Spain. The company, which in its day carried out a well-known takeover bid for Endesa, returns to the Spanish market after having abandoned it with the sale of Viesgo in 2014 to Macquarie and Wren House (Kuwait Investment Office).
E.ON the Tenerife municipality of Adeje have decided to launch an innovative energy community called “Adeje Verde”. The company will connect around 200 consumers with a photovoltaic solar production unit within a radius of 500 meters. The solution will allow residents and local entities to collectively produce, share and use renewable electricity. The goal is to supply Adeje with up to 100% energy from local renewable sources in the future.
The pilot project aims to establish one of the first energy self-consumption communities in Europe with an innovative approach to citizen participation. It is based on the new 2019 EU Clean Energy Package Electricity Market Directive, which indicates that excess solar PV no longer has to be fully returned to the grid, but can instead be passed on to neighbors. at a reduced rate. This new regulation serves as the basis for the project to create the first energy community in the Canary Islands. E.ON will use the best practices learned in Germany (Stadtwerke model), the Netherlands and Sweden to inform the project.
Luis Hernández, Director of Communities and Energy Networks at E.ON Innovation, states: “We will make it possible for green energy to meet the power of the people: in Adeje, we are creating the first community that corresponds to the new European guidelines, which will be applied throughout Europe in the coming years Spain is a pioneer with this new regulation, and therefore an ideal place for a pilot project that serves as a model for other pan-European approaches that allow citizens to contribute to a faster, more sustainable and affordable energy transition “.
Several local “solar circles” will be installed in the municipality of Adeje. Each solar circle will be equipped with a rooftop photovoltaic plant at its center and will be managed by a prosumer (which will produce and consume energy). Each photovoltaic system will provide solar energy to neighbors (consumers) within a radius of 500 meters. The first photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of the Adeje music school. To date, some 200 homes will collectively start receiving power from the plant in August 2022, giving it a 14% market share in the pilot solar circle. The school’s photovoltaic plant produces about 149,200 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year and will reduce CO2 emissions by about 116 tons per year.
If only 20% of European citizens were part of a local energy community like the one in Adeje Verde, 6,400,000 tons of CO2 emissions could be saved per year. This is equivalent to removing 25 million combustion engine cars from European roads.
The mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, affirms: “To protect our environment in a sustainable way, in Adeje we are working to change attitudes and raise awareness, both among our residents and among the many who choose Costa Adeje as a holiday destination. A A more sustainable future is only possible if shared objectives and benefits are pursued. The Adeje Verde energy community is an important lever for us”.
At the same time, E.ON will work on expanding the availability of new photovoltaic installations in Adeje, expanding the community by installing more solar circles. This will allow even people who do not have space for their own PVs to enjoy the benefits of solar energy and start their journey towards sustainability. The general objective of the pilot project is that all the citizens of Adeje have access to local solar energy in their neighborhood so that they become models of the fastest growing energy community in Europe.
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