Portugal: ‘Social’ current from the cooperative

The Portuguese cooperative Coopernico builds small solar power plants for kindergartens and schools, making the institutions energy independent.

“Not only have we radically reduced the cost of electricity, but we are also earning around € 5,000 a year from the energy we supply to the public grid,” said Luis Besigo of APPACDM, an aid organization that cares for people with disabilities. operation of kindergartens in the greater Lisbon area. “When Coopernico offered us the opportunity to generate our own electricity, we agreed immediately. So, solar panels were installed in the buildings, which now supply energy to six of the agency’s facilities – at least as long as there is sunshine,” he said.

The surplus is channeled into the public supply of electricity at constant prices. The cost of the small power plants on the roofs of the buildings was covered by the energy cooperative itself, which receives compensation from the aid organization. And most importantly: Both sides are satisfied with the agreement. “Our cooperative was founded in 2013,” says Rui Pulindo Valente, one of Coopernico’s directors. “Our main concern was to change the way we perceive energy production.”

Initially, the cooperative members wanted to generate sustainable electricity from renewable sources. And secondly, not to operate on the basis of a single production center: to create many small production units, instead of large solar parks, which are often built on fertile land that in turn could be better used for food production.

“We now have a total of 33 factories across Portugal,” says Valente happily. “And in the coming years, of course, even more will be created.”

Solar systems for social institutions

Ecclesiastical community centers and schools in the Algarve, viticultural cooperatives or town councils in central Portugal and – most recently – a home for the disabled in northern Portugal have now signed contracts with Coopernico to generate their own electricity.

The interest for cooperative energy production is great and in the near future four to five more projects will be added – a fact which of course brings great satisfaction to the members of the cooperative. “When we announce funding, the shares are sold in zero time,” says Valente. Often, even the members of the cooperative themselves complain that they did not manage to invest.

And somehow the Coopernico cooperative is expected to continue to grow and contribute significantly, albeit to a small extent, to the energy transition in Portugal, which now relies heavily on renewable energy sources. The long-term goal is to build so many small power plants that the cooperative will be able to participate in the Portuguese market as an independent solar energy provider.

Jochen Faget

Edited by: Chryssa Vachtsevanou

Source: Deutsche Welle