Aware of the challenges that the current geopolitical context poses to the energy sector, the Greenvolt Group brought together more than 300 participants in Be Next | Europe’s Decentralized Energy Innovation Forum, held at the Champalimaud Foundation Auditorium in Lisbon, to debate the transformative role of Distributed Generation of renewable energy. In an event full of experts, from the most varied areas, the progress made was highlighted, but also the constraints that still exist to the democratization of this new way of generating, consuming and sharing this energy of the future were identified.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, placed the energy issue at the top of the European agenda, namely the issue of energy independence. Russia, until then Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas, is no longer reliable, forcing the Old Continent to take the step it should have taken a long time ago, seeking energy self-sufficiency from renewable sources.
With REpoweEU, there has been a growth in Utility Scale wind and solar energy generation projects, but at the same time a growing appetite for Distributed Generation of renewable energy is visible, both for self-consumption and through the concept of energy communities. “Renewable energies are competitive. We need them for greater energy independence, to combat climate change and also for economic and employment growth”, said Mechthild Wörsdörfer.
“We need renewable energy in all forms, whether through Utility Scale projects, Distributed Generation, wind, solar, but also changes in terms of mobility”, added the deputy director general of the European Commission for Distributed Energy Generation, in its intervention at Be Next | Europe’s Decentralized Energy Innovation Forum held remotely, from Brussels.
João Manso Neto, CEO of the Greenvolt Group, reinforced the role of renewable energy in the mandatory energy transition of economies, defending two fundamental aspects: “they are clean energy, they are cheap energy”. “But why aren’t there more renewables? Utility Scale projects have the problem of being intrusive, in addition to facing problems with access to networks, which creates a great opportunity for Distributed Generation” which the European Commission predicts will represent 25 % of all consumption at the end of this decade.
The opportunity for Distributed Generation, although it exists, faces some obstacles. “At the regulatory level, there are still countries that have not transposed European directives, and in those that have done so, there are often bureaucracy problems”, stated Manso Neto, remembering that about the problem of energy networks, in addition to being necessary expanding them is also vital to make better use of them, defending the subsidizing of operators to do this work.
At Be Next | Europe’s Decentralized Energy Innovation Forum, the CEO of the Greenvolt Group also pointed to the “difficulty of decision makers, both CEOs of private companies and public officials, in making the obvious decision to move towards this new form of energy generation and, finally, the companies themselves in the sector that must, in the face of these obstacles, innovate”, said Manso Neto, defending the investment in PPA, which would allow overcoming another obstacle, that of financing the energy transition, but also the sharing of energy through energy communities and mobility electrical.
The Greenvolt Group, which continues to grow its pan-European self-consumption platform, now in 10 geographies, assumes Distributed Generation as one of its main priorities, being an “important driver of energy communities” in Europe, as highlighted by Walburga Hemetsberger. The CEO of Solar Power Europe, who defended the empowerment of consumers, whether families, small or large companies, in this new design of the energy market, sees this way of consuming renewable energy as a factor in alleviating the pressure on energy networks.
The event was held in the Champalimaud Foundation Auditorium, one of several practical examples of the energy communities developed by the Greenvolt Group presented. The Champalimaud Foundation, led by Leonor Beleza, taking advantage of energy sharing, in this case that generated by the “Os Belenenses” Football Club at the Restelo Stadium, will be the first healthcare institution worldwide to consume 100% renewable energy within a period of five years.
Community Energy, which allows families access to this clean energy and more barata, are seen, along with electric mobility, as vital for the cities of the future, playing a fundamental role in the promotion of smart, but also sustainable, cities, as is the case of Lisbon. Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon, who spoke at the end of this event, brought to the audience the example of the Portuguese capital, highlighting the concrete steps already taken towards a capital that rivals the most developed in the world in terms of sustainability.
