The president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, announced the progress made in Gran Canaria in shared self-consumption, through the support that the Island Council of Energy has given to energy communities such as the Habitat building in Playa del Inglés. During the event, Morales announced that in the coming weeks new communities will be established in Agüimes and Santa Lucía de Tirajana.
Morales thanked the representatives of the first energy hive in the south of Gran Canaria who "are selflessly collaborating with us to carry out projects designed for the common benefit of the citizens and the environment of the island." He also reiterated that "the challenge is for citizens to believe in the energy transition and to understand why energy communities are important."
The Cabildo of Gran Canaria, through the Island Energy Council, has promoted the creation of energy communities in Playa del Inglés and Barranco de Arguineguín, which are the result of the launch of a specific Community Transformation Office for municipalities with less population, financed with Next Generation funds from the IDAE.
The support offered includes the search for co-financing, technical and legal advice, attracting potential users and promoting complementary infrastructures, such as storage, charging points and photovoltaic plants. In addition, a subsidy of 500.000 euros will be called for to cover 100% of the expenses to establish the energy communities, the technical offices and the community manager, among other expenses.
The first initiatives were submitted to the call for proposals for the Sustainable Energy Strategy in the Canary Islands, of the 'Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan', belonging to the European Next Generation funds managed by the Government of the Canary Islands. This made it possible to obtain funding for the industrial energy community of Playa del Inglés.