Meeting of Associative Entities Working on and Driving the Community Energy Transition

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The Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences (FCEE) at the University of Vigo was the setting, on 28 and 29 May, for the “Meeting of Community Entities Working on and Driving the Community Energy Transition.” The event, organized by the Galician Wind Observatory (OEGA), the LIFE EC4RURAL project, Enerxía Comunitaria S.L., CISPAC and the Observatory of Common Land and Wastelands, brought together a broad range of key stakeholders to discuss the future of energy from a local and participatory perspective.

The event saw strong participation from Neighbourhood Common Land Communities (CMVMC), cooperatives, associations and researchers, establishing itself as a key meeting point for the formation of a Network of Community Entities for the Energy Transition in Galicia. This activity is, in fact, a continuation of similar actions dating back to November 2023.

The programme began on the afternoon of Thursday 28 May with a screening of the film “Vidas Irrenovables” (“Unrenewable Lives”), followed by a discussion with its director, Francisco J. Vaquero. During the discussion, Vaquero emphasized the need to commit to self-consumption and the distributed model as a genuine alternative to the current system.

On Friday 29 May, the day unfolded with an intensive programme covering everything from practical case studies to legal and financial frameworks.

Learning from success stories: Europe and Galicia

The morning session opened with a block dedicated to “Community experiences of energy transition.” A highlight was the contribution from Ralf Marpert, representing energieland2050 e.V. Marpert shared his extensive experience managing community wind farms and the citizen participation guidelines that allowed Steinfurt, the territory where his organization operates, to become a European benchmark for social acceptance of renewables.

Speakers from Eolpop, Pep Puig and Miquel Cabré, presented the Catalan experience of “Viure de l’Aire” Spain’s first community wind farm. Meanwhile, Xavier Martínez Cobas, founding partner of Enerxía Comunitaria SL, outlined the main features of his project: the launch of Galicia’s first community wind farm.

CMVMCs as drivers of change

One of the pillars of the meeting was the analysis of the fundamental role of Neighbourhood Common Land Communities (CMVMC). The session featured notary and UVigo professor Ernesto Regueira Núñez, and lawyer Xoan Antón Pérez-Lema, who addressed the specific challenges related to CMVMC participation in energy transition processes. While until now these collective entities have largely only received investment from third-party companies, both the University of Vigo and Enerxía Comunitaria SL are working to define governance frameworks in which CMVMCs begin to become active, central players in that transition. Regueira and Pérez-Lema raised key points to support that role for CMVMCs.

Attendees then had the opportunity to learn about and discuss examples of CMVMCs already carrying out their own energy transition initiatives. The CMVMC of Tameiga (Mos), the CMVMC of Puga (Toén) and the CMVMC of Cabeiras (Arbo) presented their community energy transition projects. Meanwhile, the Nosa Enerxía, SCG cooperative described how collective action is driving an energy transition controlled by and for local people. Nosa Enerxía SCG is the first cooperative-format electricity retailer to exist in Galicia.

The commercialization of the CO2 absorption capacity of communal forests is a new area of business that communities cannot afford to be left out of. While external initiatives currently predominate — that is, large companies offering contracts to communal landholders — we did not want to miss the opportunity to present commercialization alternatives for absorption capacity controlled by the communities themselves. To this end, Jose Manuel Iglesias Espiño, from Tenzas consultancy, and Jose Taboada, from the CMVMC of Vincios (Gondomar), shared with attendees how to register CO2 absorption capacity and subsequently manage it directly through the communities themselves, without intermediaries. This presentation generated great interest among attendees, sparking an in-depth discussion that continued afterwards in direct conversations.

To close the morning session, Emilio Bruquetas, CEO of Recursos de Galicia, highlighted the importance of public participation in new energy models. Recursos de Galicia is a highly innovative initiative by the Xunta de Galicia developed in partnership with more than a dozen Galician companies. On the one hand, he presented how the project is developing production at the Mondigo wind farm, located in the northeast of the province of Lugo; he also shared with the audience the creation of the first public electricity retailer. The main objective of both initiatives is to guarantee better economic and social conditions for electricity-consuming individuals and businesses located in Galicia.

A decisive afternoon: Repowering and the creation of a Galician network

The afternoon session opened with contributions from Enrique Saez, president of the Juana de Vega Foundation, and Xavier Martínez Cobas, representing the Isla Couto Foundation. Both private entities have spent years committed to community rural development. In the energy field, they represent a model of commitment to supporting community initiatives seeking greater social and economic benefits from Galicia’s natural resources.

The discussion then turned to wind farm repowering. Enrique Gil Santos, president of the CMVMC of Covelo (A Lama), shared the negotiating experience of 8 common land communities located in the municipalities of A Lama, Forcarei and Cerdedo-Cotobade regarding the repowering process of the Serra do Cando and Monte Seixo-Cando wind farms. Gil described how the 8 communities, before starting negotiations, reached a two-part agreement: firstly, that all of them wanted the wind farms to remain on the mountain range after 25 years of coexistence; and secondly, that regardless of how the repowered turbines were distributed, each community would maintain its current proportion of participation. In other words, if a community currently holds 3% of the installed capacity and, after repowering, no capacity is installed on its land, its share will still remain 3%. This is a landmark agreement in terms of the mutual collaboration it represents between rural stakeholders.

Xoan Antón Pérez-Lema, for his part, took part in the panel as direct negotiator on behalf of the CMVMC Barbanza de Postomarcos, in the municipality of A Pobra do Caramiñal, in connection with the repowering of the Barbanza I and Barbanza II wind farms. With advice from OEGA, this CMVMC’s negotiation shows that it is possible to improve economic and social conditions for local stakeholders without this meaning an obstacle to investment development. Pérez-Lema explained that the new agreement reached, with OEGA’s support, resulted in an 80% increase in annual rents and a guaranteed minimum capacity for the CMVMC regardless of the final outcome of the repowering process.

Finally, Alfonso Álvaro, from Repowerlab, presented the major opportunities opening up for common land communities to repurpose “old” wind turbines to build energy communities serving all citizens and businesses within a 5-kilometre radius. He also discussed the process of reusing turbines with capacities of around 1 MW to build energy communities in areas of business concentration.

Network of Community Entities for the Energy Transition

Coordinated by David Río, from Taller de Estrategias Ciudadanas, the final point of the meeting was a joint discussion of the challenges and opportunities involved in forming a Network of Community Entities for the Energy Transition. During this session, attendees discussed how to develop this Network: how to share knowledge, how to negotiate jointly with the administration and influence policy, and how to promote a decentralized, democratic energy model that serves people.

All attendees expressed interest in collaborating to make this Network a reality, and OEGA took on the responsibility of coordinating the first steps.