The Regional Minister for Industry, Tourism, Innovation, Transport and Trade of the Government of Cantabria, Javier López Marcano, received a visit from the Commercial Director of EDP, Miguel Fonseca, and the Director of B2B Sales of EDP Spain, Javier Flórez. Both presented their innovative Solar Neighbourhoods project with the aim of promoting it in the Autonomous Community.

This is a self-consumption initiative that provides the residents of the solar neighbourhood with access to more efficient, renewable, local and solidarity-based energy, while also promoting inclusion and a culture of environmental care.

Each solar neighbourhood is expected to involve a total of 200 homes or premises, within a radius of 500 metres, which could collectively self-consume solar energy thanks to photovoltaic installations located on the roofs of buildings belonging to public administrations.

The beneficiaries, who on average would achieve savings of 30 % in their electricity consumption, would have to register in the Barrio Solar, thus benefiting from self-consumption without having to carry out any work or installation in their home or change their electricity company. They would only have to pay a small monthly fee, which entitles them to generate electricity from part of the installation and allows this consumption to be deducted from their electricity bill.

In addition, thanks to the EDP Foundation, 10% of the energy generated would go to help vulnerable families in the neighbourhood, who would have access to it free of charge as they would be exempt from paying the monthly fee.

According to the Industry Councillor, "EDP's Solar Neighbourhood concept is a great example of a public-private partnership that could improve the lives of families and shopkeepers, allowing them to save and help their neighbours with fewer resources. It is also good for the environment because it will reduce emissions.

EDP is currently working in Zaragoza on the implementation of the first solar neighbourhood in Spain.

The solar neighbourhood has an important social and environmental dimension, as it includes an energy audit of the homes of the most vulnerable families, workshops on energy efficiency, energy billing and self-consumption and the implementation of energy saving measures in homes. The collaboration of the EDP Foundation will also enable the processing of energy certificates, technical inspections and the replacement of basic equipment such as LEDs, radiators, boilers, etc. In this way, the project contributes to improving people's quality of life, favouring access to affordable and non-polluting energy as established in SDG7 of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN in its 2030 Agenda.

This initiative is part of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) lines of action set out in EDP's recently approved Strategic Plan for the period 2021-2025. This plan foresees investments of 24,000 million euros. The investments will focus on three main lines of action: growth in renewable energies, flexibility and intelligence of the electricity distribution networks and a commitment to designing and offering the most innovative solutions to its customers. This ambitious plan contributes to EDP's goal of being 100% green by 2030.