Sunlight is the Earth’s main source of energy and Barcelona enjoys many hours of sunshine throughout the year. We have enormous energy potential in Barcelona if we harness solar energy.
So the City Council is promoting the exploitation of the city’s roofs, roof terraces and public spaces to generate energy, under its new Incentive Programme for Solar Energy Generation in Barcelona.
The city wants to make a solid commitment to a changed model based on generation from clean energies, and set out a path towards energy democratisation, participation and involvement by everybody (authorities, city residents and businesses) in changing the energy model.
The aim is that self-consumption, self-production and renewable, local generation become part of daily life. At the same time, there is a desire to make the professional renewable energies sector more dynamic with increased demand for installations and the creation of quality jobs.
There are four areas of action:
Roofs/public spaces with public investment
The City Council is developing new installations for generation in existing buildings and spaces. Some of the buildings selected are schools, libraries and other facilities, such as district headquarters, markets and civic centres.
These installations will enable buildings to generate part of the energy they consume, with surplus energy injected into the electricity grid; they are managed by Barcelona Energia, the metropolitan electricity company. The operation and maintenance of the installations are done through TERSA.
As for public spaces, several of the city’s existing pergolas have been chosen for photovoltaic-panel installations, which will turn them into energy generators.
You can find out more about existing projects on the photovoltaic generation map.
Public roofs with private or collective investment
The City Council will be making roofs of existing municipal buildings and facilities available to companies, individuals and collectives interested in investing in renewable energies, for establishing generation installations.
Through a partnership agreement, the City Council transfers the execution, exploitation and management of these installations to private actors who are interested in participating.
At the same time, the City Council is working to create mechanisms to boost installations promoted and managed collectively or by various stakeholders, such as the example of the social roof space at the Sant Agustí Convent.
Roofs/private spaces with public investment
The City Council is investing in private spaces to turn them into energy-generating areas and also to revamp and dignify them, so they have a clear impact on public spaces.
The main example of such investments are the partition walls of some of the city’s private buildings which are completely visible to the public, as a result of urban-planning changes, and yet lack the building or architectural features of a façade.
Work is carried out in coordination with the Municipal Institute for Urban Landscape and Quality of Life to detect the spaces where action can be taken.
There are currently several photovoltaic partitions, such as the one in Plaça de les Dones del 36, or the partition in Carrer de Pere IV.
Private roofs with private investment
There is a desire to encourage the city’s residents and the private sector to invest in generation equipment for their residential buildings.
The City Council facilitates these investments through incentives such as redevelopment grants and subsidies or tax allowances. It will also give city residents access to the support and guidance necessary for enabling, as far as possible, any city resident keen to generate energy from their home to become familiar with all the procedures and tools they have at their disposal.
Tot i així, més enllà dels quatre àmbits aquí descrits, el més important és que l’Ajuntament doni exemple i alhora es cerquin noves oportunitats i sinergies per tal que el privat esdevingui un actor clau en la transició energètica i en la generació d’energia renovable, tant el terciari i industrial com el sector residencial.
Per cada cas es treballen estratègies i canals de comunicació específics que permeten arribar més fàcilment als diferents actors. El que es pretén es fer créixer la generació i l’autoconsum en particular més ràpid del que estaria previst en el cas de no intervenir, cercant noves oportunitats en tots els aspectes, tecnològiques, interpretacions normatives, facilitant l’accés a la informació, exemplificant i generant dreceres mitjançant equipaments municipals.