Energy communities are gaining ground in Spain as a tool to bring the energy transition closer to citizens, businesses, and municipalities, ensuring that its economic, social, and environmental benefits remain within the local area. This was one of the main conclusions of the 3rd Energy Communities Summit , organized today in Seville by the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) and the Andalusian Energy Agency within the framework of the European REC4EU project.
The meeting brought together representatives from public administrations, companies, experts, and energy communities from across Spain at a time of growth for this model. The country now has 837 energy communities, 182 more than a year ago , and one in ten towns has such an initiative. Furthermore, 65.5% operate in rural municipalities , and more than half are developing or plan to develop actions to combat energy poverty, according to data from the ECODES Common Energy Observatory's Third Indicators Report.
The institutional opening was attended by Jorge Paradela, Minister of University, Industry, Energy and Innovation of the Andalusian Regional Government, who highlighted that Andalusia is approaching 2,000 shared self-consumption installations and has already exceeded the power target set for 2026.
“The Andalusian government firmly believes that now is the time to take another step forward with shared self-consumption and energy communities, to continue advancing and ensure that distributed generation reaches families, helping them reduce their energy bills and enabling SMEs and industries to increase their competitiveness,” the regional minister stated. “For this reason, we launched the Roadmap for the Development of Collective Self-Consumption and Solar and Energy Communities in Andalusia.”
The opening ceremony was also attended by Fernando Mañes , Delegate for European Funding, Urban Agenda and International Relations of the Seville City Council, who emphasized that “
"Energy Communities are fundamental and we must promote them from the local councils. We want to be the standard-bearers of Europe, benchmarks in sustainability, to be carbon neutral by 2030. We have made a lot of progress and we will continue working to boost it."
“Energy communities are key tools against depopulation and represent the Spain we want: participatory, sustainable, and one that leverages its renewable resources to generate benefits for the region. It is time to further their development by eliminating the regulatory, administrative, and economic barriers that still limit their potential and sharing, in meetings like this one, the great possibilities that this model already offers for the social and economic development of communities,” highlighted Rafael Benjumea , President of UNEF.
Energy that generates value in the territory
The impact of energy communities on municipalities and their capacity to engage citizens were two of the main themes of the day. The Summit focused particularly on the role of city councils, provincial councils, and other local entities in facilitating these projects and ensuring that a greater share of the benefits associated with the energy transition remain within the region.
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Its high presence in rural municipalities also opens up opportunities to link the energy transition with local development and the fight against depopulation, while allowing citizens, companies and administrations to be directly involved in the production and management of their energy.
Andalusia played a prominent role during the meeting. The region developed its Roadmap and framework for the development of energy communities , in collaboration with the communities themselves and their Community Transformation Offices. Experiences such as the Local Energy Community of Mairena del Aljarafe and FAECTA's work with Andalusian cooperatives were also shared during the event.
“We expect to see a boost in the number of energy communities in Andalusia due to the consolidation of shared self-consumption and the crystallization of existing initiatives,” shared Joaquín Villar, Department of Internationalization, Innovation and Unique Projects of the Andalusian Energy Agency.
From citizens and municipalities to businesses, industry and the agricultural sector
The Summit also showcased the growing diversity of these projects. Energy communities are enabling the inclusion of actors traditionally excluded from the energy sector in the energy transition, expanding their reach to areas such as industry, agriculture, irrigation communities, and urban environments .
This growth also generates economic activity around it and opportunities for companies that provide services related to self-consumption, storage, energy efficiency, rehabilitation or electric mobility.
Energy communities are thus moving from initiatives focused primarily on self-consumption towards models capable of incorporating storage, electric mobility, energy efficiency and, progressively, flexibility services , becoming true local energy ecosystems.
A new stage: to grow and become more professional
Following the growth experienced in recent years, one of the main messages of the Summit has been the need to move from the creation of energy communities to a stage of consolidation and growth of existing projects .
Professionalizing management, expanding membership, incorporating new activities, and generating internal resources will be key to achieving stronger and more sustainable initiatives. In parallel, the conference addressed new funding models beyond public aid and the need to continue making progress in eliminating administrative and regulatory barriers.
In this area, Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 has introduced significant measures, such as recognizing the promotion of and participation in energy communities as a responsibility of municipalities and extending the distance for collective self-consumption from 2 to 5 kilometers. The Summit also highlighted the pending approval of the specific Royal Decree on energy communities as one of the next steps to complete their regulatory framework.
The Third Summit thus concludes by setting the next challenge as consolidating the growth achieved and ensuring that energy communities become increasingly professional, diversified and sustainable projects , capable of bringing the opportunities of the energy transition to citizens, businesses and territories.