Iberdrola España and the Sagrado Corazón School in Venta de Baños promote a pioneering solar community in Palencia

• The new installation, the company's first in Palencia and the fifth to be marketed in Castilla y León, will be located on the roof of this school in Palencia and will prevent the emission of around 500 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere over the next 30 years.

• In addition to reducing the cost of the school's electricity bill, residents within a radius of 2 kilometres will be able to benefit from the advantages of renewable self-consumption – without the need for their own infrastructure or investment.

• Both entities join forces in this initiative that is committed to sustainability and energy transition.

Iberdrola España and the Sagrado Corazón school have joined forces to promote a pioneering solar community in the Palencia town of Venta de Baños, the company's first in Palencia, as part of its commitment to sustainability and energy transition.

The new installation, the fifth that the company will market in Castilla y León, will be located on the roof of the school and will prevent the emission of around 500 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere over the next 30 years.

In addition to reducing the cost of the school's electricity bill, residents within a radius of 2 kilometres will be able to benefit from the advantages of renewable self-consumption – without the need for their own infrastructure or investment.

This form of community self-consumption allows users to share the 100% renewable energy generated from a single photovoltaic installation located in the vicinity of their home; in this case on the roof of the Palencia school. 

Iberdrola España is investing in this installation, which will consist of 136 solar panels; the total power will exceed 63 kilowatts (kW) – enough to produce around 90 megawatt hours (MWh) annually. 

Thanks to this solar community, around 95 families will be able to participate in it and save on their electricity bills by consuming part of the energy produced by this installation locally. For its part, the Sagrado Corazón school, a pioneer in implementing a renewable installation of this kind, will be able to cover up to 40% of its electricity consumption.

Furthermore, as a result of its commitment to self-consumption, Iberdrola España has improved the remuneration of its customers' surpluses and, thanks to innovation in energy products, self-consumers with Iberdrola España plans can value their surpluses beyond the energy term, making it possible to have a bill of zero euros.

"This pioneering initiative is a very important milestone that marks Iberdrola España's commitment to innovation in energy solutions, sustainability and commitment to the areas in which we operate by making self-consumption available, in this case, to 95 families in Palencia", says Celiano García, Iberdrola España's Commercial Director in Castilla y León.

For her part, the school's principal, Pilar Guerra, stresses that "this decision not only represents a step forward in terms of environmental responsibility, but also has significant benefits for our educational community. On the other hand, he points out that an installation as important as the one that is going to be carried out broadens the pupils' knowledge, encourages their interest in renewable energies and is in line with the school's commitment to educating environmentally responsible pupils".

Leader in 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 by 2023. 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 Plan, 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, the compensation for the surplus energy not consumed that is fed into the grid and the savings due to lower taxes.

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