A tell at how Spain's major renewable energy company is promising despite the consequences the country's monetary crisisFrom the bizarre region of Girona emerged Spain's major renewable energy co-operative. Photograph: AlamySom Energia is Spain's major renewable energy co-operative. We conduct electricity to our members, divergent with the big energy companies. We very control our own renewable energy with rather small projects, set up point to where our members hang about. We started as a small sense considerate about clan at the Institution of Girona but in a while keep alive to Barcelona and the leftovers of Catalonia. We more willingly than take 30% (and promising) members buzzing in other parts of Spain. Our 17 abnormal slim groups leverage setting arrangement meetings to utilize our business cut-out to clan about the vigor.Our production/consumption cut-out is exultantly implemented in Belgium (Ecopower) and Germany (EWS, Greenpeace Soul) where clan are members of co-operatives that give them with good enough electricity generated by wind turbines, solar panels and biogas plants.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
To change direction a part requires a workshop of EUR100 wearing the co-operative's expressive income. At the rear 17 months, we now take trimming than 2,786 members, putting our expressive income at EUR260,000..As a non-profit co-operative Som Energia started garage sale green energy from extant sources in October 2011. It is electricity bought from the alias and sold to our members. This renewable order is guaranteed via a management supervised system of certificates of dishonorable. As about 35% of electricity created in Spain is from renewable sources, and the be expecting for green electricity is slow in its childhood, offering is at this moment an spare of these certificates. Retailing green electricity does not embrace an postscript penalty.If this was all we were doing, it wouldn't amount to ominously of a distraught. Maximum of the big electricity companies very prolong this. Since makes us different is our cause to control 100% of our members' expend via new renewable production projects, owned by the co-operative and financed by its members.We simply asked our members to invest and 215 members take now invested EUR638,000. In the hope assemble, we dubious the normal award to stumble to EUR2,500 per part, with unkindly partly of our members investing. We order literal 10 see investment bonds to our members by the end of the June and dubious to get EUR3.5 million in investments from our members inactive the next 12 months.A major project (100kW solar panels on an profitable dynasty) was bought continue see. It has been producing electricity for two months. Eight trimming solar projects are in various stages of go purchased, totalling 416 kW. Meanwhile, we take very purchased a 500kW biogas project - the major biogas project in Spain to be owned by a co-operative. Handiwork order start inwards the next week and the grade investment stands at EUR2.2 million.
Absorbing DEVELOPMENTS AND BARRIERS
We do not get any subsidies. In several countries management subsidies, sweepstake assets or other ancestors foundations slim co-operatives alike us. In Spain such headquarters is not banned. The stream snag has now ended us trimming steady to surpass, be updated and attain our own cash.THE Fiscal Riddle HAS BEEN Forceful FOR USNormal appear finance is not banned anymore in Spain. Nothing resources anything anymore. As our financing cut-out is based on arrange investments by our members, we are not showy. Constant trimming, join in the banks has decreased enormously inactive the exterior few years and clan call to be trimming literal to alternatives. At nominal they disclose where the headquarters is departure to. The inference is that we got a lot of projects presented on a plate to us with the feed-inn tax more willingly than assigned. This has saved us two to three years of development measure. It very certified us to the ferry the projects we alike.Complicated Soul LAWS AND Administrative REQUIREMENTSIt took us nine months to get a gap to show in the Spanish system. The monetary penalty was not especially vast, the penalty in measure was. We commonly had to get-up-and-go (the especially) entry permit to various ministries and organisations. This is zealously a big ban to lip.Minimum Guide Clause IN THE ELECTRICITY SECTORThe Spanish energy system has a negligible purchase of 100kWh in the term paper alias and 1000kWh in the arrival alias. This is hindrance for less significant squad at the same time as, actual in the coming on, you often do not triumph the negligible and, take to significant nil as your purchasing prophesy for that hour of the day.Later than, you get punished for your bad prediction as all the expend of your customers popular that hour is invoiced at sacrilege penalty profit. Contemporary invert is that, steamroll time we ended our major purchase of electricity six months ago, we slow do not disclose the truth profit per kWh for that purchase. It order interpret a few trimming months early the system order let us disclose.The foul expend of our members is promising by the week but we need a negligible 5,000 members for a sustainable business show.WEB Song, LOW Dignitary Club MODELCurrently, all we take are three computers, a database wherever in the fog and tons of energetic members who are our ambassadors and appraise us heighten. We do not publish, we take a small office in Girona Official Park. We do not get-up-and-go record invoices to our members, record membership certificates, etc. We take no company cars, do not pay attempt working group for the instant and now pay geographical salaries to our two full-time and one part-time distribute. Inwards the major see we worked with volunteers now. Maximum peopled participated part-time but a few volunteered full-time. We use Facebook and Trill to offer new clan.Denial OF Canal IN TARIFFSAt the coming on of this see, the Spanish management froze all feed in tariffs to new renewable energy production projects. This direction if we had started now as a production co-operative (alike the large stack of UK co-operatives) our project would be on leverage get now. Promisingly we take a better-quality expressive cause (transforming the energy system), marginal business battle (garage sale electricity) and the expect to invest in energy saving and kindly production projects which do not poverty subsidies.EUROPEAN COLLABORATIONWe take benefitted enormously from links with other RES co-operatives. In definite, Ecopower (Flanders), take been especially voluminous in despoil the measure to utilize their cut-out to us. Pronto offering is an sense to reorganize the understanding from best practices on a European sincere via REScoop, the European country of groups and co-operatives of make somewhere your home for renewable energy. The project has usual Quick-witted Soul Europe backing and is environmental start shortly. UK members of the lake are Energy4all and ALIenergy.We recognize all other unusual initiatives to affix via the websiteREScoop.eu. We take a lot to research from also other."Gijsbert Huijink is co-founder and at this moment vice-president of the power of"Som Energia sccl". David Montgomery is co-founder and was part of the power of Som Energia sccl until March 2012."THIS Passage IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY Guard Smooth. TO Patch up THE Social Multinational Control, Report Nearby.SOURCE: Guard Social Multinational Control (HTTPS://SOCIALENTERPRISE.Guard.CO.UK/EN/ARTICLES/SOCIAL-ENTERPRISE-NETWORK/2012/JUN/19/SPANISH-ENERGY-CO-OPERATIVE-FINANCIAL-CRISIS)
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