Adeje Verde – Europe’s first local energy community of its kind

Success-Story Simris

Adeje Verde – Europe's first local energy community of its kind

Citizens contribute to energy transition by producing and sharing PV energy.

Key
Facts

In collaboration with the municipality of Adeje, E.ON Innovation is growing an energy community with an innovative citizen involvement approach
"Adeje Verde" is the first self-consuming energy community of its kind in Europe and, as of now, the largest solar circle in Spain
Excess solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is no longer fed back to the grid, but instead passed on to neighbours living in a 2000-metre radius around the PV system
The primary goal of the project is to accelerate the energy transition by empowering citizens and making sustainable energy solutions accessible to everyone

The Challenge

Since many EU islands lack the infrastructure needed to make use of renewable energy sources, they have to import energy from fossil fuel sources. This is unsustainable and expensive – electricity prices can be ten times higher than on the mainland. The Government of the Canary Islands wants to break this mode, aiming to run all islands on 100% renewables by 2040. To achieve this, more renewable energy systems need to be installed and more people need to be involved. Although many citizens want to take an active part in the energy transition, the right conditions to do so are not yet available. Many consumers simply do not have time to do the research necessary to make an informed decision. For instance, solar panels are still regarded as a huge commitment and as people often lack information, they do not feel confident choosing them. Additionally, not everyone has access to their own roof for installing PV panels, nor the financial means to afford them. Thus, one of the major challenges is helping citizens to “do the right thing” in a way that is doable for them.

increase renewable power

avoid expensive fossil energy imports

involve people in generating power

The Solution

To bring renewable, local, community-centric power to the Canary Islands, E.ON Innovation is collaborating with Adeje, a municipality in southwest Tenerife, to grow an innovative local energy community “Adeje Verde”. Members of the energy community benefit from local solar power by either being consumers or, if they have access to a roof and can install a PV system, prosumers (producers, consumers and sharers of energy). The “Adeje Verde” community consists of several solar circles, each with a 500-metre radius. A solar PV system forms the centre of each solar circle, with neighbours connected to the PV. This allows them to jointly consume locally produced energy. “Adeje Verde” is part of Tenerife’s sustainable energy transformation and is set to be a blueprint for energy communities across Europe.

locally produced and consumed solar power

self-consuming energy community to empower citizens

accelerating the energy transition

The Result

The first solar panel system was installed on the rooftop of Adeje´s music school. The school’s PV produces about 149,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, which reduces annual CO2 emissions by 116 tons. Almost 200 households are connected to this PV system, which makes it the biggest jointly self-consuming solar circle in Spain. Further, Adeje Verde is the first energy community that conforms to the new Electricity Market Directive of the EU Clean Energy Package 2019, which indicates that excess solar PV energy no longer needs to be fully fed back to the grid but can instead be passed on to neighbours.

After setting our initial record by establishing the largest collectively self-consuming solar circle in Spain, we aim to become the fastest-growing and ultimately the largest energy community in Europe.
Mark Ritzmann, Managing Director at E.ON Innovation
We’re creating a pilot project as a blueprint for further pan-European ventures, which enables citizens to simply and actively contribute to a faster, sustainable and more affordable energy transition.
Luis Hernandez, Head of Energy Communities and Networks at E.ON Innovation