We promote a pioneering Solar Community in the Basque Country with the Alazne School in Barakaldo

• The new installation, located on the roof of the Bizkaia school, will prevent the emission of around 621 tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere over the next 30 years.
• In addition to reducing the cost of the school's electricity bill, residents who are within a 2 km radius and wish to do so will be able to benefit from the advantages of renewable self-consumption, without having to have their own infrastructure or assume the investment.
• The Basque company and the Alazne school join forces in this initiative of commitment to sustainability and energy transition.

Iberdrola España and the Alazne School in the Biscayan town of Barakaldo have joined forces to promote a Solar Community. These installations will allow the residents of the area, within a radius of 2 km, to benefit from the advantages of renewable self-consumption, without the need to have their own installation or to assume the investment. This is the first Solar Community that Iberdrola España has installed in an educational centre in the Basque Country.

This form of community self-consumption allows users to share the 100% renewable energy generated from a single photovoltaic installation located near their homes. In this case, the plants will be located on the roofs of the Alazne educational centre. Iberdrola España is making the investment.

In total, the installation consists of 248 solar panels. The total output is 112 kilowatts (kW), enough to produce 112 MWh annually. This photovoltaic installation will prevent the emission of around 621 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere over the next 30 years.

Thanks to this Solar Community, some 170 residents around the Alazne School in the factory town will be able to participate in it and save on their electricity bills by consuming part of the energy produced by this installation locally. The school, a pioneer in the installation of this type of renewable energy in Bizkaia, will be able to cover up to 30% of its electricity consumption.

In addition, as a result of its commitment to self-consumption, Iberdrola España  has improved the remuneration of its customers' surpluses. For the installation, Iberdrola España has collaborated with an emerging company in the area, Iberalia 2015, SL.

Eduardo Lobato, Iberdrola's Commercial Representative in the Basque Country, stresses that this project "is a very important milestone that marks the company's commitment to the Basque Country and to innovation in energy solutions, sustainability and its commitment to the citizens of Bizkaia by investing in their neighbourhoods and creating quality local employment by making zero-kilometre energy available to local residents".

Alazne School: Commitment to Sustainability 

Alaine Uriarte, principal of Alazne School in Barakaldo, stresses that for the school and its educational model "it is essential to work with students to improve the Sustainable Development Goals as the basis of an educational model in which the school community and the neighbourhood are involved" and adds that "From the very first moment when we analysed together with Iberdrola España the feasibility of developing an emission-free energy system for the school, we realised that we had to go beyond the limits of the school and also contribute to the development of the neighbourhood by opening this pioneering renewable facility. It will also allow us to work with our students on new projects related to sustainable and social development, renewables and innovation, pillars of our school model.

Promotion of self-consumption

Iberdrola España leads the photovoltaic self-consumption market in Spain, managing 40% of the country's self-consumption customers. As part of its commitment to accelerating the energy transition and developing new products to improve efficiency and energy savings, in 2015 the company became the first company in its sector to integrate self-consumption solutions into its range of services.

The company has consolidated its position as the benchmark company with a 150% increase in its self-consumption portfolio in the last year. Through Smart Solar, Iberdrola España offers services for all types of customers, from domestic consumers to large industrial customers.

The collective self-consumption solutions developed by Iberdrola España have made self-consumption available to any customer, whether or not they have their own roof. Customers in this segment also benefit from the Solar PlanExternal link, opens in new window. , a competitive electricity tariff during the hours when there is no sun, which is when they need to consume energy from the grid, as during the day they self-supply from their own installation. 

Self-consumption solar systems can save 30% on annual bills in the case of residents' associations; 50% for companies and businesses; and up to 70% in single-family homes. These savings are produced in three ways: the energy produced by the installation that the user does not have to buy, compensation for the surplus energy not consumed, which is fed into the grid, and savings due to lower taxes.