FlexCHESS - Spanish Pilot Site - La Solar Energía Soc. Coop.
La Solar Energia, a non-profit in Spain, is developing one of the country’s first Energy Communities, with 305 members and over 1500 contracts for electricity supply, amidst a rapidly growing solar energy market in the economically active Region de Murcia. While new roles like Aggregators or Energy Communities are emerging under ongoing legislative developments, none of the 50 high schools involved in the community participate in FLEXCHESS facilities.
In Bullas-Murcia, a project engages 15 homes and municipal facilities, utilizing PV installations, storage batteries, and heat pumps, targeting an annual residential consumption of 3500-4000 kWh. Members of La Solar Energia, comprising the participant group, will be equipped with knowledge of project goals and guidelines, fostering a communal spirit and maximizing interactive participation.
Bullas Municipality planning for REC “Bullas en Transición “considers circles of 2 km diameter around primary PV plants. Residential, municipality, industrial/SME consumers or prosumers will add consumption and production.
Eligible buildings will serve as platforms to validate the Flex-Chess solution, exploring the concept of the Aggregator under Spain’s evolving regulations and local renewable potential. The pilot project, managed by La Solar and MIWenergia, will involve members of La Solar’s Local Energy Community, with the former coordinating citizen engagement and the latter overseeing technical aspects of the Flex-CHESS deployment and validation.
The available buildings for the
project will employ either centralized heat pumps or zone-specific small split
units for air conditioning, with heating supplied by various means, including
increasingly popular electric heating pumps. Domestic hot water is primarily
sourced from electricity (55%), followed by natural gas (40%) and solar energy
(5%).
