The driving group has been working on the creation of the energy community, which was formally constituted on 8 June.
The presentation session of Arrotxa-E, the Rochapea Energy Community, promoted by Pamplona City Council with the participation of the citizens, was held on 15 June. The presentation took place at 7.30 p.m. and was open to any interested person, entity or association. The session could be followed live on the Youtube channel of Participa Pamplona.
This initiative was launched on 15 November 2022, with an information session as the starting point of the participatory process to set up the energy community. Between January and March, the City Council held a number of training sessions covering aspects such as self-consumption, governance and legal form, as well as examples of good practice. From March until now, the neighbourhood’s driving group has been working on the legal form, statutes, and the basis of the business plan etc., to create this Energy Community.
These communities are considered a key tool in the fight against climate change and energy transition. The aim is to obtain social, economic and environmental benefits for users and their environment rather than financial gains. Moreover, they are an example of collaboration between different agents, public, private, companies or the citizens themselves, for the development of energy projects.
In the particular case of the Rochapea neighbourhood, it has a series of photovoltaic installations in which the Energy Community can participate, such as a photovoltaic installation on a park-and-ride car park with a capacity of 1 MW, which is currently in the execution phase, the 60 kW photovoltaic installation on the San Pedro housing block, whose refurbishment work began on 15 June and which is also part of oPEN Lab, and an installation planned for a public school.
Until now, the City Council has participated in the meetings of the Driving Group to promote the energy community, but from now on, they will work autonomously.
The Driving Group will start a campaign in September to recruit new members for the European Commission, which will be followed by a General Assembly for the ratification of the statutes in October. In parallel (from September to February), the Eurpean Commission will be preparing the internal regulations, Business Plan etc.
