Promoting socialised renewable energy facilities in the Balearic Islands

The project

To achieve all these objectives, the project “Promoting socialised renewable energy facilities in the Balearic Islands” has a timeline of two years, after which it is expected that the Balearic Energy Institute will have successfully executed the project so that this practice starts to be replicated in the private sector, while also helping to reduce levels of energy dependency on elsewhere and the carbon footprint of the Balearic islands, and benefiting local residents.

The project will be developed with the following main goals:

- Identify land that is suitable in territorial, energy, social and economic terms. Projects will be developed as a priority on publicly owned or degraded land. Furthermore, territorial criteria will also be taken into account, such as the suitability and the visual impact and impact on the landscape, as well as energy criteria such as the existence or otherwise of nearby power usage and the possibility of establishing bilateral agreements for the sale of electric power, or social criteria such as the potential for socialising facilities.

- Concept of the model for citizen involvement of the project and start of the communication campaign in neighbouring municipalities.

- Design and technical concept of the project.

- Obtaining citizen investment in the project.

- Execution of electric power facilities using renewable technology and linked to the consumers selected.

This project has multiple benefits:

Reduction of greenhouse gas and atmospheric contaminant emissions from central power plants by adding renewable energies to the energy mix on the Balearic Islands, reducing the amount of electricity generated by polluting sources.

Potential use of degraded land for penetrating renewables, reducing the pressure on rustic land and helping to preserve and ensuring said land remains of interest to tourism.

Boosting a new niche of qualified, sustainable and quality work in the Balearic Islands not linked to the tourism sector, namely renewable energies, thus contributing to the diversification of the economy and, specifically, to greater democracy in the energy sector.

Helping to democratise the energy sector with citizen involvement in the investments and in understanding these facilities as a “collective good”.

The return on the investment in the facilities remains in the same area where the facilities are to be built, helping to improve the perception of other renewable energy facilities and generally improve the resilience of the economy.