GREENVOLT INAUGURATES THE FIRST INCLUSIVE ENERGY COMMUNITY
Greenvolt Comunidades, together with the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cascais and one of the partners of DATA CELLAR, the Cascais City Council, inaugurated the first inclusive energy community at Bicesse Nursery in Cascais. As part of the Inclusive Communities Program, this installation is already supporting low-income families with clean and affordable energy.
Through the inclusive energy community, the Greenvolt Group aims to promote social inclusion by helping Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS), Mercy Houses, cultural cooperatives, institutes, foundations, cultural activities pursuers, museums, libraries, historical archives, and NGOs reduce electricity costs and share savings with the local community to combat energy poverty.
Greenvolt Comunidades, which already has more than 40 celebrated Energy Communities, totaling over 30 MWh, will continue to create new Inclusive Communities. Through this program, aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, the Greenvolt Group aims to benefit 250,000 people by the end of this decade.
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ADVOCATES FOR ENERGY COMMUNITIES TO BRING “RENEWABLE, CHEAPER ENERGY TO EVERY FAMILY”
Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, advocated for the development of Energy Communities as being of utmost importance in delivering “the benefits of the green transition to everyone” during a visit to the first inclusive energy community, located at Bicesse Nursery and created by Greenvolt Comunidades.
European Commissioner Highlighting that “the use of roofs for energy capture [through photovoltaic solar panels] has great potential because it is an unused space where it is relatively easy to install panels quickly,” the European Commissioner for Energy emphasized that “we must ensure that everyone can benefit from renewable energies even if they don’t have their own roofs.”
“Energy Communities are addressing this challenge” by allowing an anchor producer to consume the energy produced and share the surplus with other consumers, businesses, or households within a radius of 4km. “It is a concept that has our support,” stated Kadri Simson, as it enables the delivery of “renewable, cheaper energy to everyone.”
Greenvolt Comunidades, a company within the Greenvolt Group, specializes in the development of Renewable Energy Communities, which are considered essential in REPowerEU, the European plan designed to respond to the new geopolitical and energy market reality and accelerate the energy transition process.
With over 40 celebrated Energy Communities in Portugal, totaling over 30 MW, the Greenvolt Group is also developing Inclusive Communities, with the first one being at Bicesse Nursery in partnership with the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cascais and the Cascais City Council.
Through Inclusive Communities, the goal is to reduce the electricity costs of social institutions and share the savings with the local community to help combat energy poverty.
Accompanied by João Manso Neto, CEO of the Greenvolt Group, Kadri Simson had the opportunity to see firsthand a project that already provides clean and cheaper energy access to several dozen low-income families, resulting in an average annual savings of 100 euros. They are the first beneficiaries of a total of 250,000 people that the Greenvolt Group aims to support by 2030.
