This week, the meeting to launch the European project for Sustainable Energy Communities in the Atlantic (SAtComm) was held in Waterford, Ireland. This Interreg project for the Atlantic region involves eleven public and private entities from four different countries (Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and France) and has a budget of €3.2 million.
The University of La Laguna is participating with a budget allocation of 270,000 euros through the research team led by Professor Juan Albino Méndez Pérez (coordinator of the Control Engineering and Intelligent Systems group) and five other researchers (Santiago Torres, Benjamin Gonzalez, José Manuel González, Alberto Hamilton e Ivan Castilla).
The project also includes EnergyRIS, a spin-off company from the University of La Laguna whose activity is focused on the energy sector. This company, in which Professor [name missing] has a stake, Ricardo Guerrero and with experience in energy communities, will complement areas of the project related to regulation, short-term energy forecasting and other aspects related to the practical implementation of the community.
Energy communities are legal entities formed by members who generate and consume their own renewable energy and have the option to sell surplus energy to other customers near the generation point. This allows citizens, from the industrial to the residential level, to trade with each other and manage energy (generation, demand, and storage). The project focuses on defining an efficient and sustainable model for implementing these communities at the European level, which will also serve as an instrument for the transition to clean energy. To this end, an analysis will be conducted that includes regulatory aspects, proposals for forecasting generation and demand, new energy management models, and intelligent systems for detecting operational anomalies.
The University of La Laguna's proposal includes launching a pilot energy community project on campus. In the short term, the university expects to have a photovoltaic energy potential of around 1.5 MW. Much of this energy will be consumed within the university itself, but preliminary studies indicate there is potential for a surplus that could be used as a resource for the community.
The research project also introduces an innovative element that aligns with the institution's social responsibility. The idea is to consider students living in the surrounding area as potential customers. This would give them access to a preferential energy rate, which would undoubtedly provide them with significant financial support.
An alliance for the sustainability of the ULL
The project, which has already been presented to the Rector and the Vice-Rector for Sustainability and Infrastructure, was received with enthusiasm due to its significance for the university and its sustainability strategy. Following the initial meetings, the Vice-Rector expressed the institution's support in providing the necessary technical assistance for its development. It is worth noting that the first phase aims to deploy a system for monitoring both energy generation and demand.
A centralized database will be created to allow real-time monitoring of the energy status of the institution's various facilities. To facilitate coordination between the research team and the Vice-Rector's office, a schedule of regular meetings and a shared workspace have been planned.
The SAtComm project, which is starting now, will have three intense years of work ahead of it until its conclusion in November 2026. At that time, it is expected that all the effort made will materialize into a useful and efficient energy community model to advance the decarbonization of our territory.
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