La Energía Del Cole

Header image
Watch video
Finished 24 / 12 / 2021
Funded!
Received
€ 29.052
Minimum
€ 19.991
Optimum
€ 63.036
202 Co-financiers
Matchfunding Agents
match invests
AMPA Juan Ramón Jiménez
Completado (€ 1.000)
Matchfunding Agents
match invests
Manuel Márquez "El Coleta"
Completado (€ 1.000)
  • Contributing € 10

    Thanks with energy!


    We will thank you on the project website and on social media for the seed you have planted in our project.

    > 35 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 20

    Digital illustration

    We will send you a dedicated illustration, a fragment of the commemorative mural outside the school, which you can use as a screensaver.

    > 22 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 30

    Stories from school


    We could not miss the protagonists of this initiative, the students of the Ecoescuela Virgen de los Remedios, who will send you a letter telling you what the realisation of this project means to them thanks to your donation.

    > 20 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 40

    We unwrap the invoice


    If understanding your electricity bill is a hassle or even mission impossible for you, let us help you figure it out. We will explain everything you need to know and how to save on your energy consumption in exchange for your donation. Personalised advice from AEIOLUZ energy evolution.

    > 10 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 50

    Part of the commemorative mural


    We are going to create a cool mural outside the school, and you can be part of it. We will put your name on it and in that way we will reflect the community energy that we have generated thanks to your contribution.

    > 33 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 60

    Logbook


    Get to know our "journey" in detail, in a digital publication that will explain the whole process, from its origin at the Renovathon, the obstacles, the progress... the whole adventure from start to finish. And with your name as a donor on the featured page.

    > 07 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 90

    Virtual Tour at the School

    We will invite you to take a virtual tour and show you around the project. Also the town of Arroyomolinos, its people, and the Ecoescuela as the epicentre of the energy transition in the town. You will meet the installation of course, and also the driving group of #LaEnergiaDelCole.

    > 00 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 100

    "Watio-Friend" >> Entity


    If you represent an entity, organisation or company, give visibility to the wonderful gesture of your donation. We will reflect your logo and link as a "Watio-Amiga" entity.

    > 05 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 120

    Online Lab


    We will develop an online "think tank" style training to share our experience, and help other initiatives similar to #LaEnergiaDelCole to design their own models that can be replicated elsewhere. The "step-by-step" on how to create your own school energy community.

    > 01 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 150

    Fighting energy vulnerability


    AEIOLUZ online training on "Energy Vulnerability", what it means, how to detect it and how to tackle it in your locality. Ending energy poverty is in your hands.

    > 00 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 150

    Greenpeace school workshop


    Greenpeace will hold a face-to-face workshop at your school, covering different topics related to climate change and citizen action, and launching a specific challenge to work on at school for two weeks.

    > 05 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 200

    Opening Party


    When the installation is up and running, we will invite you to come to Arroyomolinos and participate in the inauguration party of #LaEnergiaDelCole You can't miss it!

    > 04 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 300

    Opening party + workshop


    You will be invited to the #LaEnergiaDelCole Opening Party in Arroyomolinos de León (Huelva). In addition with the registration to an on-site workshop the day before, where we will explain all the ins and outs of the project, and we will help you to design your own school energy community.

    > 00 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 300

    "Kilo-Friend" >> Entity


    If you represent an entity, organization or company, give visibility to the wonderful gesture of your donation. We will reflect your logo and link as a "Kilo-Friend" entity.

    > 02 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 350

    Eco-schools specials


    A virtual ad hoc workshop aimed at member schools of the Eco-Schools Network, with whom we will share the school's experience in energy transition, and help develop new initiatives. Donor eco-schools will be featured prominently on the project website, and will be invited to the launch.

    > 00 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 500

    "Mega-Friend" >> Entity


    If you represent an entity, organization or company, give visibility to the wonderful gesture of your donation. We will display your logo and link as a "Mega-Friend" entity, and invite you to the inauguration.

    > 00 Co-financiers
  • Contributing € 1.000

    "Giga-Friend" >> Entity


    If you represent an entity, organisation or company, give visibility to the wonderful gesture of your donation. We will display your logo and link as a "Giga-Amiga" entity, and invite you to the inauguration.

    > 03 Co-financiers

About this project

Photovoltaic installation in a rural school committed to sustainability and the right to energy.

Needs Infrastructure Minimum Optimum
Minimum photovoltaic installation >> 22.4 kwp
With this power we will be able to share generation between the school building and between 15 and 20 families.
€ 14.700
Optimal photovoltaic system >> 42.5 kwp
We will be able to increase the surface area, with more solar panels, and achieve an installation that would provide self-consumption for more than 30 families.
€ 16.360
Needs Material Minimum Optimum
Commission GOTEO >> Minimum Target
With this item you help us to cover the costs of the platform, and to support the work of the GOTEO crew, as far as the minimum target is concerned.
€ 1.895
PV Plant guarantee >> 22,4 kwp
To apply for a grid connection point, we have to present a guarantee validated by the Energy Service of the provincial delegation of the Government of Andalusia, for a value of €40 per kW of power.
€ 896
Rewards
Everything we want to produce as rewards has a cost and this item would help us cover the cost of producing them.
€ 2.500
Commission GOTEO >> Optimum target
With this item you help us to cover the costs of the platform, and to support the work of the GOTEO crew in achieving the best possible results.
€ 1.110
PV Plant guarantee >> 42,5 kwp
To apply for a grid connection point, we have to present a guarantee validated by the Energy Service of the provincial delegation of the Government of Andalusia, for a value of €40 per kW of power.
€ 805
Needs Task Minimum Optimum
Accompaniment >> 1st year
We will cover the costs of advice, training and coordination for the start-up of the project up to the end of the first year.
€ 4.000
Accompaniment >> 2nd year
With this allocation we will be able to cover not only the start-up, but also the consolidation of the project and the progressive impact on the whole village.
€ 6.000
Recompensas óptimo
Todo lo que queremos producir como recompensas tiene un coste y esta partida nos ayudaría a cubrir producirlas.
€ 1.500
Instalación complementaria en el cole hasta 22 kW - contra la vulnerabilidad entre 15 y 20 familias
Instalación fotovoltaica óptima >> 42,5 kwp (a más de 30 familias)
€ 13.270
Total € 19.991 € 63.036
Necessary
Supplemental

General information

"We will 'grow' our own energy, like tomatoes. And we share it out in a fair way."


This is how the children of the Virgen de los Remedios Eco-school in Arroyomolinos de León (Huelva) responded to the challenge posed by Greenpeace Spain to implement the project "La Energía del Cole", winner of the first prize in the Renovathon 2020), and that is why we have launched ourselves to co-finance an energy community that supplies both the school and 30 neighbouring families in the village. We need you to make this collective dream come true!

Thanks to the work of the Eco-School, pupils are learning more and more about climate change, renewable energy, efficiency and the energy market. They are also fortunate to live in a village where a remarkable traditional energy culture persists, inherited from the water-powered windmills of the past. Even today, many families still heat themselves with coaldust cookers in the winter, and older people treasure knowledge about energy, efficiency and what we now call the circular economy.

For the last two years, the school community has been supported by the MUTI Association, which is implementing awareness-raising and training activities in the school, inspired by the "euronet 50/50" methodology, which increases the energy awareness of the community and actively involves them in energy saving actions. This work has been carried out with the "energy patrol" that appears in the video of this campaign, and also with the Arroyomolinos Town Council, which has changed its supply contracts to Megara Energía, a cooperative of Unión Renovables with a notable presence in the region.

But now the time has come to go one step further, and respond to the challenge launched by Greenpeace Spain's Renovathon 2020, by developing "La Energía del Cole" at the Virgen de los Remedios Eco-school in Arroyomolinos de León.

Actions that we will implement

A 42,5 Kwp PHOTOVOLTAIC Installation for collective self-consumption

It will be owned by citizens with the legal support of the MUTI Association, and whose production will be distributed between the school building and around 30 homes of local families. An installation of these characteristics requires the contracting of an energy services company to undertake the following tasks:

  • Drafting of the technical project, legalization and construction management.
  • Installation of coplanar structure, with 66 mono-crystalline silicon modules of 340 wp, three-phase inverter of 20KW AC Nom, electrical protections and wiring.
  • Monitoring system for the intelligent management of the installation and net generation meter.

A process of technical and socio-educational accompaniment for the school community

Which will consist of:

  • Dynamization and collective construction of a model of governance, criteria for participation and sharing of collective self-consumption.
  • Energy audit and dynamization of a 50/50 process in the school building.
  • Training: energy efficiency, electricity bills and the electricity market / citizen energy and collective self-consumption / climate change, renewable energies and sustainable development.
  • Promotion and coordination of social impact actions in the municipality for the right to energy and against energy vulnerability: advice, energy rehabilitation of housing, information and awareness campaigns.

👁 Commitments ALREADY made

The development of these actions entails the acceptance of a series of commitments between the parties, especially the local actors: Ecoescuela Virgen de los Remedios, AMPA Juan Ramón Jiménez, Ayuntamiento de Arroyomolinos de León and Asociación MUTI.

🖋 Signing of a 50/50 agreement with the City Council

The savings that the school community is able to achieve are invested in the school itself, with a firm commitment that passes through the municipal plenary session.

📄 Signing of a temporary concession

Framing the duration of four years of the roof of the school for the photovoltaic installation. The installation will be owned by the MUTI Association, and will be responsible for the technical coordination of collective self-consumption between the school and the families participating in the project, in accordance with Royal Decree 244/2019, of 5 April, which regulates the administrative, technical and economic conditions for the self-consumption of electricity.

💪 Creation of a driving group

Integates the School Council, Ampa - Juan Ramón Jiménez, MUTI Association and Arroyomolinos Town Council. This driving group will coordinate the project at local level and ensure that its aims are achieved.

💚 Greenpeace España and Aeioluz Evolución Energética as key partners

Provide technical advice, visibility and connection with other similar projects in Spain and Europe, identifying success factors and overcoming difficulties to make it replicable throughout Spain and interested countries.

Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign

What if you could support a school that wants to produce its own renewable energy, transform its village and eradicate energy poverty in the community? And set an example for the whole of Spain? Would you support it?


This was the question that brought us here from the collective intelligence marathon organised by Greenpeace Spain -Renovathon 2020-, to innovate and find citizen solutions that accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition in the hands of the people, challenging the power of the energy oligopoly that treats energy as a luxury product and not a right.

And this is the project that won the first prize at the Renovathon 2020: "The Energy of the School".

An energy community that will generate and manage its own renewable solar energy to facilitate collective self-consumption between the school and families with children in school in an efficient, sustainable and fair way, in a process of energy empowerment that starts in the school and extends to the whole locality.

Energy model and environmental sustainability

With this project we will demonstrate that a change of energy model (polluting, fossil, centralised and dominated by a few companies) is urgent and possible. To guarantee the sustainability of the planet and the democratisation of energy, so that it is not a luxury product but a guaranteed universal right.

We want to learn to generate our own renewable energy, to consume it efficiently, to store it, to share it, to exchange it, ...on a journey with the children who will be the citizens of tomorrow. What better place than a school to put it into practice?


The current energy situation of scandalous electricity prices has dramatic repercussions on many people and, what is worse, we are compromising the future of the youngest. This initiative tries to teach from their own experience and to the whole educational community (children, mums, dads, teachers, councillors, institutions...) that things can be done differently, that it is possible to be efficient in the use of energy, to produce it from renewable sources and also to share it.


We are showing that it is possible to get access to clean and fair energy, which should be a right for everyone. And something bigger: that this can be a model to be followed by all the schools in Spain. How is it possible that having the highest solar radiation in Europe, the normal thing is not to generate free energy and distribute it?

Energy vulnerability, women and rural areas

Energy vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that in Spain affects between 3.5 and 8.1 million people according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition (National Strategy for the fight against energy poverty 2019). Families with children and single-parent families have been identified as the most vulnerable groups, and numerous studies point to the feminisation of fuel poverty.


It also has a territorial character, and specifically affects rural areas, which within the wide diversity of contexts and realities, is characterised in areas at risk of depopulation (such as the Sierra de Huelva) by the poor energy quality of dwellings in a traditional housing stock in poor condition.


An ageing population facing the progressive withdrawal of public services, associated with depopulation. Distribution networks in poor condition with poor maintenance and a ruthless and opaque energy market, which takes advantage of families' lack of technical knowledge.

A school is the best place to plant the seed of an energy community.

Energy communities are a growing phenomenon in our country and will undoubtedly be a major player in the energy model for the foreseeable future. They are an instrument for the democratic governance of energy, where citizens are placed at the centre of the model and go from being mere consumers to collectively understanding and managing local energy production in a transparent and fair way, generating processes of cooperation and identification with the territory.

(Renewable Energy Community of Rio Monachil / Granada)

And an energy community is more than a collective ownership of a more or less complex photovoltaic installation. It is also a community of learning about the resources, skills, knowledge and values capable of making us achieve greater levels of energy sovereignty.

And a supporting community, where no one is left behind, and where all families, regardless of their income, have access to the benefits of renewable energies in proximity.

The cole de Arroyomolinos de León is a privileged place to undertake awareness-raising actions and practical training on energy communities. With the qualification of Ecoescuela, it is the nerve centre for sustainability and environmental education activities, and it also has a marked territorial character: in the village, there is no family that does not have a direct or indirect link with the school, through the children attending it. **Schools are the heart of the village.

And why in Arroyomolinos?

Arroyomolinos de León ("Arroyo", for its inhabitants) is a municipality in the province of Huelva with 947 inhabitants (INE 2020), located in the beautiful Natural Park "Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche". With the highest peak of the province (El Bonales) crowned with oak trees, Arroyo is dominated by oak and cork oak pastures, which are part of the Natura 2000 network. The municipality manages its water resources and urban waste autonomously, and the very parcelled distribution of arable land favours a culture of family gardens and activities of exchange and mutual support.

With a high level of social participation, it has an adult education centre, and the primary school holds the Green Flag award from the Andalusian Network of Eco-schools. Arroyo is an example of strong commitment to rural essence, sustainability and diversity.

Where did this energy journey begin?

In October 2019 Arroyo hosted the celebration of the conference "Alumbra / energy from rural areas", organised by the MUTI Association, with the support of SOM energía, Diputación de Huelva, Fundación Savia, Megara energía and Fundación Unicaja. More than 120 people from all over Spain, including professionals, activists, local and regional political representatives and neighbours, attended the event with great surprise. With the intention of answering the question: What energy do we need for a good, dignified and healthy life in the rural world?

At ALUMBRA it was announced that MUTI had won one of the El Germinador Social de SOM energía y Coop 57 awards that year, with a rural energy community project for Arroyomolinos, which to this day has adopted that name.

3-349.jpg 2-612.jpg 2-613.jpg

Why this is important

🌍 ONE COMMUNITY, ONE PLANET

The most direct impact will be on the members of the energy community (children, families, the school and the local council), who will reduce energy costs and carry out an efficiency exercise that will also reduce their consumption. The savings achieved will be reinvested in further energy efficiency and environmental education, which will reinforce its Eco-School status.
And less greenhouse gas emissions, which is good for Arroyomolinos, Andalusia, Spain and the planet, which is good for everyone.

⚡CREATING AN ENERGETICAL COMMUNITY

An experience of collective self-consumption of renewable energies, whose benefits will mainly benefit vulnerable families in the locality in the way that the driving group decides (advice on efficiency / energy rehabilitation / self-consumption) and in general in social and environmental benefits for the entire population of Arroyomolinos, who will experience that energy communities and self-production of energy is possible, affordable... and works. A seed for Arroyomolinos de León to become energy self-sufficient in the future.

✊PAVING THE WAY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ENERGY POVERTY

Training in the environment and responsible energy consumption, self-consumption of renewable energies, vulnerability and the right to energy for families at the school and gradually for the whole village... Many schools (and town councils) will be able to copy this initiative and replicate it elsewhere. Our experience, pioneering in many ways, is opening paths and overcoming difficulties that will pave the way for other municipalities.

If it can be done on the roof of a school, it can be done on many other public roofs. From this experience, the production of energy for sharing opens many paths towards the generation of clean and affordable energy for all, fighting against energy poverty and empowering the people who suffer from it. (SDGs in section "Collective Return")

🌈 CHILDREN CITIZENSHIP OF THE FUTURE

Children are the future. If they know and experience how to manage an energy community, they are learning many things: to produce their own clean energy, to manage it, to share it, to make decisions together, to take care of things for everyone, to take care of the planet. We owe it to them.

formacion-5050.jpg

Team and experience

Convened by Greenpeace and united by chance, we responded to the challenge launched in Greenpeace's Renovathon 2020, a marathon of collective intelligence to innovate and find citizen solutions that accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition in the hands of the people.

We created a team and pitched an idea... and it won!

TEAM

GREENPEACE: international, economically and politically independent environmental and pacifist organisation, with more than 125,000 members throughout Spain and present in 55 countries. It is the driving force behind the project, through the laboratory that conceptualised it and the incubation and start-up garage. It supports, accompanies and watches over the correct regulation to remove the obstacles that allow the energy transition to be accelerated in the hands of citizens.
https://es.greenpeace.org/es/

María Prado, Head of Citizen Energy and Energy Transition (Greenpeace Spain)

AEIOLUZ: We are a Valencian cooperative that operates as facilitators of energy change. We advise and accompany different members of society in the design of energy plans that generate changes and improvements. And we provide the tools and training to generate energy empowerment. Through our work, we help municipalities, companies and educational communities to make a more conscious, sustainable and responsible use of energy. We support the conceptualisation of the project, its dissemination and rewards.
https://www.aeioluz.com

MUTI ASSOCIATION (evolutionary space): based in Santa Olalla del Cala (Sierra de Huelva), our field of action is sustainable development in rural areas in an integral, participative and inclusive way. The sense of commonality, culture, cooperation, respect for diversity and the environment are our hallmarks. Our current projects include those related to energy transition and the gender perspective in rural areas, the construction of alliances in the territory (SDG 17) and the promotion of social innovation ecosystems based on cooperation and the community as a unit of development.
https://asociacionmuti.com/

LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS

Eco-school CEIP Virgen de los Remedios: our eco-school has more than 20 years of experience cultivating the values of environmental education, and has been awarded the Green Flag on two consecutive occasions. We are joining the Energy Community project of Arroyomolinos de León with our experience and the commitment of the School Council, which in plenary session approved to join the initiative "La Energía Del Cole". We will be the place from where to implement actions of "energy pedagogy", making the whole town a "learning community". As Eduardo Galeano said: "many small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world".
https://www.facebook.com/ceipvirgenremedios.arroyomolinos.1

Juan Ramón Jiménez Parent Association: Parents' association with strong involvement and presence in Ceip Virgen de los Remedios, with a strong environmental commitment. Very involved in all stages of the Eco-school project and activities aimed at achieving the Green Flag. We participate in the preparation and activities of the school garden, as well as in the design and implementation of a more egalitarian and inclusive playground. We also set up fundraising campaigns to improve school resources.

Arroyomolinos de León City Council: We maintain a strong commitment to rural essence, sustainability and people. We believe in education as an engine for change and that is why we take special care of our ties with the educational community. We have championed the fight against gender violence and the promotion of equality in the rural world, a particularly male chauvinist and masculinised environment. Putting people at the centre, we find our debt to historical memory inescapable. We work to make our people a community in the broadest sense of the word, that maintains and regains control of its resources, a sustainable people that advocates energy transition, that refuses to disappear, to depopulate, joining the demographic challenge, participating in projects such as Holapueblo, aligned with the Agenda of the Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience.
http://www.arroyomolinosdeleon.es/es/

MEGARA Energía: Energy cooperative formed by consumers and users dedicated to the commercialisation of energy. Every day we work so that our society leaves the minimum environmental impact of energy supply, so we are committed to clean energy and 100% renewable origin. We ensure that the electricity bill generates savings, is transparent and that the electricity supply corresponds to a basic good. For Megara, energy is a driving force for local development in rural areas.
https://www.megaraenergia.com/

"La Siembra". On 10 January 2020 a very diverse group of people gathered at the Arroyomolinos Town Hall to celebrate the award of "El Germinador Social" by SOM energy and Coop57 to our incipient "rural energy community".


At the international level, we have the support of POWERPOOR, an EU funded project bringing together 14 partners from 11 European countries to encourage the use of alternative financing schemes for the strengthening of energy communities and citizen initiatives to combat energy poverty.
https://www.powerpoor.eu/

Social commitment

Sustainable Development Goals

  • Affordable and Clean Energy

    Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity.

  • Reduced Inequalities

    To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

  • Climate Action

    Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.

  • Partnerships for the Goals

    Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development