Priority · 3 of 6
Energy
Energy remains the largest source of emissions and the arena where public and community ownership can make the fastest gains.
Cheaper, cleaner, more local energy is an easy win to explain. It also means less dependence on volatile global markets and more resilience during extreme heat and cold spells.
Energy offers measurable, time-bound outcomes: tonnes avoided, MWh community-owned, buildings retrofitted. The case for concessional and patient capital is strong because market-rate finance overvalues quick supply-side projects and undervalues demand reduction.
Energy communities and municipal utilities are recognised in Spanish and Catalan law. This priority is a natural fit for public procurement, planning authority, and infrastructure co-investment.
Energy is where collective action produces fast, visible wins. Rooftop solar, community batteries, and street-by-street retrofitting build solidarity and show that another energy system is possible.
Diagnosis
Community and citizen energy remain a small fraction of generation. The regulatory and administrative burden on energy communities is high, and access to grid connection, land, and capital remains tilted toward large developers.
The demand side is underused. Efficiency, flexibilisation, and demand reduction are treated as secondary to supply expansion, even though they are the fastest and cheapest way to reduce emissions and grid stress.
Indicator
Share of electricity from renewables
Source and method high confidence
Source Red Eléctrica / Catalan Energy Plan — placeholder
Licence Public — to be verified
Last verified 2026-08-01
Live daily data available from Red Eléctrica; to be wired in next increment.
Leverage
Scaling community and cooperative energy ownership changes the politics of the grid. It keeps value locally, builds constituencies for more ambitious targets, and can deploy faster than large projects because it is rooted in existing social infrastructure.
Strategic storage, microgrids, and sector coupling (heat, transport, cooling) turn the energy system from a one-way supply chain into a resilient web. The public and cooperative sectors are the natural owners of these assets.
Capital stack
Community energy funds and research endowments build the social and technical capacity that markets do not price.
Retrofit, district heating, and community-owned generation need long-term, low-cost capital that conventional banks rarely offer.
Energy management, flex services, and efficiency platforms are venture-ready and can scale across territories.
Larger portfolios of community and public assets can absorb institutional capital with clear impact metrics.
Who is already doing it
34 organizations and 0 programs mapped on this site are tagged with this priority.
Sources
- Pla de l'energia i canvi climàtic 2021-2030 accessed 2026-08-01
- Som Comunitats Energètiques accessed 2026-08-01