A Local Energy Community is a natural way for citizens to empower themselves during the current transition. It enables citizens to produce energy locally, and therefore gain independence from large generation plants. This leads to more efficient consumption of resources, while also providing a tool to fight energy poverty by helping the most vulnerable people. 

Launched in 2019, "la CEL de Caldes" local energy community now has 18 photovoltaic installations  that are shared with 300 families; covering 5% of the population. At the same time, its creation and diffusion has been a catalyst for private installations that have increased exponentially in number and power: now 12% of the total electricity needed in the town is being produced locally and sustainably. 

In 2019, a climate emergency was declared in the local assembly. A Climate Action Plan based on citizen participation was immediately drafted. One of the 67 actions is the energy community “la CEL de Caldes”, representing 26.4% of the Plan’s objective. 

Local Energy Community actions are grouped into three modalities: 

• Modality A, where part of the photovoltaic (PV) panels of public buildings are shared with citizens (1 kWp per eligible family). Designed for people who have difficulties installing their own  photovoltaic panels (for example, those in rented accommodation). 

• Modality B, aimed at individuals and companies that have their own installation. A public subsidy is offered to encourage people to install a PV system. This covers about 10% of the value, ranging between EUR  500 and EUR  1 000. 

• Modality C lays the administrative basis for public-private collaborations. For example, the rental of a public lot where a private company can install and operate a PV system by paying a fee.  

All community members, whatever the modality, can access a monitoring service via a mobile application. The app provides hourly data on electricity consumption, PV self-consumption and surpluses. This enables devices to be programmed more efficiently to work during solar hours, saving electricity – and tonnes of CO2 emissions. 

In the 21st century, problems are complex and require complex responses. Therefore, from the beginning, work on “la CEL de Caldes” energy community responded to a range of different but related issues: 

The environmental aspect is central. In the context of climate change action, the municipality must provide an answer on how to promote the energy transition, with energy produced locally (saving transport losses), to improve sustainability. 

Economically, the self-consumption of electrical energy generated through PV represents a substantial saving. Once the installation is amortised, the generation cost is practically zero (discounting maintenance): energy is provided by the sun. This represents a 30% saving in electricity bills for the town hall and the energy community members, while reducing dependence on the (often speculative) electricity markets. 

There have been two important social impacts. First, the initiative supports the fight against energy poverty by helping to minimise the cost of social services. Second, a number of the families involved say they are changing their habits, for example, using washing machines, dishwashers and ovens in the middle of the day to take advantage of peak solar production and obtain the maximum discount possible. 

Participation has been central to this initiative, right from the creation of the local Climate Action Plan, which went on to serve as a guide. The drafting of the Plan drew on collective intelligence, combining citizen participation with professional expertise. This included two open sessions and one at the end of the process. As a result, 67 actions were defined in 7 axes: energy transition, sustainable mobility, zero waste, efficient water management, protection of the natural environment, biodiversity and agricultural activity, and a transversal axis.  

The creation of a local energy community was one of the citizens' requests. Carrying it out was therefore an obligation for the local government, in addition to being one of the initiatives with the greatest impact in terms of energy and emissions savings. 

Once the local energy community was ready to open – with the installations and entire administrative body in place – two climate action fairs were organised. Held in 2020 and 2023, they presented the initiative in a central square with activities related to climate change for all ages; and a stand with the Climate Action Office to answer questions and allow participants to sign up. 

The creation of the Climate Action Office in 2020 is fundamental for the Local Energy Community. The advice given in these first years, mainly on private PV, has helped the success of the action both at public and private level. 

It was calculated at the beginning of the project (2019) that to generate 30% of the town’s electricity, 7% of rooftops would need to be fitted with photovoltaic panels. In four years, 30% of this objective has already been achieved.PV installations have grown from just four in 2019 to 492 by the end of 2023 (5.8 MWp. between private, industrial and public).  

As of October 2024, 12% of the town’s energy was generated locally and sustainably and  5% of the population was connected to public PV, a unique situation compared to other Spanish municipalities. 

In Modality A, the participation fee is EUR  50 per year for a calculated annual saving of EUR  300-400 per family.  

The part intended for municipal self-consumption is also meeting its expectations: the project saved 1 million kWh, amounting to approximately EUR  175 000, which has been allocated to efficient public policies

The planet faces a climate emergency: ambitious action is needed at local level.  

This solution supports the town’s Climate Action Plan, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.  

These local commitments include reducing emissions by 55.2% by 2030. Developing the local energy community accounts for 26.4% of the reduction in CO2 emissions.  

The initiative is based on European directives (EU) 2018/2001 (EU) 2019/944 which are partially transposed in Spain. This regulation allows the production and sharing of renewable energy for self-consumption.