Greenvolt is committed to ensure that energy transition is inclusive, fair, and accessible to all, leaving no one behind.
Guided by this commitment, we developed the concept of Inclusive Energy Communities and built the first one through a partnership with Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cascais (SCMC), a social institution that operates the Bicesse Kindergarten in the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal.
How do Inclusive Energy Communities work?
Producer Member is a non-profit organization that provides the space where solar panels are installed and self-consumes part of the energy produced
Consumer Members are vulnerable families living nearby who consume the surplus energy at a reduced price or for free
Inclusive Energy Community | Bicesse Kindergarten
In this project, Greenvolt assumed the complete management of the permitting process and all the necessary investment in grid fees to the operator and installation
Bicesse Kindergarten
The installation of 73 kW of photovoltaic panels on the rooftop covered more than 50% of its daytime electricity consumption
Electricity bill decreased by approximately 57%, without any upfront investment
Vulnerable Families
The families that were identified by SCMC within a 2km radius gained free access to the surplus energy
Society
Benefits from 127 MWh/year of renewable electricity
Which represents a reduction of 34 tonnes/year of CO2 emissions
Inauguration Day
We celebrated the birth of the First Inclusive Energy Community that marks another step towards our mission of making the energy transition inclusive and accessible to all, leaving no one behind.
The inauguration day was a fantastic gathering with the families set to receive free energy, our team, partners and special guests like Ana Mendes Godinho, the Portuguese Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security, Isabel Miguens, the President of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cascais; and Joana Balsemão, the Councillor of the Municipality of Cascais. And let’s not forget the kids! We organized a science workshop to teach them about renewable energy and its importance. After all, they are the future leaders who will help drive the energy transition forward.
The project caught the attention of the European Union
We were honored by the visit of the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, who visited the kindergarten facilities
The international interest sparked by this project has given us even more confidence to continue our mission, and at the same time, it has also given us hope that in the future, this model will be replicated in other countries.
