Energy communities democratise access to energy. With them, citizens cease to be mere consumers and become producers and managers of their own electricity.
What are energy communities?
We can define them as another tool in the fight against climate change, in which citizens and companies are involved.
Legally, they are legal entities made up of several partners zambia email list who are responsible for generating and consuming their own energy. Their activities involve:
Generate energy through renewable energy sources.
Promote energy efficiency.
Produce, supply, consume, store and distribute clean energy.
Provide energy services such as electric mobility (recharging electric vehicles).
They are local organizations or associations that encompass citizens, companies, public administrations and other actors, who are fully involved in the production, management and shared consumption of renewable energy .
The aim is to promote a decentralised energy model that is inclusive and sustainable. Those involved therefore collaborate in the production of the electricity they will consume, and share the economic and environmental benefits that result from this activity. They all participate actively and democratically in decision-making, as well as in the planning and management of energy resources.
In order for communities to meet their objectives, it is necessary to create energy infrastructures that may include wind turbines or photovoltaic installations, among others, because clean energy is always the priority .
The local energy community is a figure that already exists in different countries. In the case of Spain, these entities are divided into two different legal forms:
Renewable energy communities. Made up of individuals and legal entities that join together to develop renewable energy projects in their vicinity. The objective is to obtain economic, environmental and social benefits.
Citizen energy communities. These are made up of individuals who join together to produce, consume and manage their renewable energy. The aim is to reduce energy dependency and promote the transition towards a more sustainable energy model.
It is important not to confuse the figures of a local energy community and a self-consumption energy community . We have already seen that the former is the union of several people to produce, consume and manage energy, while the latter is the agreement of a community of neighbours to install a photovoltaic cover on the building in order to produce electrical energy and distribute it among all the homes in that community.
