Loulé Adapta - View Intervention

In the context of climate change, and taking into account the goals of the Paris Agreement, it is essential to invest in the decarbonisation of the economy and in the energy transition of cities towards cleaner and more efficient energy sources.

Municipalities, as managing bodies of a considerable number of buildings and equipment, have a fundamental role in promoting energy sustainability. In this context, effective energy planning will allow us to optimize the provision of services and improve the quality of life of citizens, either by reducing energy consumption costs or by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG).

The School Energy Community project came about as part of the Energy Working Group of the Local Climate Action Monitoring Council of the Municipality of Loulé, and aims to produce renewable energy in schools, mainly for self-consumption, including an educational component.

The School Energy Community pilot project was implemented in August 2019 at the Prof. Sebastião Teixeira School in Salir, with the installation of a photovoltaic production unit, and training activities for the entire school community began in the 2020/2021 school year. The actions carried out enabled the entire school community to be trained and made aware of the importance of issues related to energy and water efficiency and decentralized energy production, which allowed students to carry out a “simplified energy and water audit” at the school, and at the end of the school year the results were presented by the students to the entire school community. During Climate Week 2022, the municipality implemented one of the proposed measures (placing flow reducers on the school taps).

The School Energy Community project is expanding to the remaining schools in the municipality, currently covering 35 schools in the municipality and with an installed capacity of around 934 kWp, enabling production of more than 1,530 MWh per year and avoiding the annual emission of around 390 tonnes of CO2.

The School Energy Community project was recognised with an Honourable Mention in the SDGlocal Award - Good Individual Practice 2022 competition organised by the SDGlocal Platform - Municipal Platform for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Learn more about this project here.

Under this programme, around 20 Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS) were supported in implementing energy efficiency measures and installing solar photovoltaic plants, totalling an installed capacity of 340 kWp, and enabling the renewable production of 560 MWh per year, reducing the energy bill of these facilities with a very important social character for the municipality and avoiding the annual emission of 143 t of CO2.

As the managing body of the largest group of service buildings and public facilities in the municipality, Loulé is one of the biggest consumers of energy and water on a local scale, and is responsible for the conditions in which they are used, both by its workers and by the population who use them. On the other hand, the municipality must also, within its competences and capacities, follow an exemplary approach to local climate adaptation, demonstrating its potential and stimulating the initiative of other public and private players.

In addition to applying bioclimatic criteria for urban planning, architecture and construction to new municipal buildings and facilities, which take into account climate scenarios for the municipality, it is essential to adapt existing buildings to make them more resilient and efficient in the face of current and future climate conditions.

The Municipality of Loulé has been implementing and supporting various projects aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the municipality and producing renewable energy. To date, the municipality and municipal companies have installed more than 1.2 MW of photovoltaic power in their buildings. Examples include the Municipal Market Photovoltaic Park (with the installation of a 60 kWp self-consumption production unit, which avoids the annual emission of around 34 tonnes of CO2) and the installation of photovoltaic panels for self-consumption at the Loulé (50 kWp) and Quarteira (100 kWp) Municipal Swimming Pools, which produce around 247 MWh/year.

Development of a tool to support energy management in Buildings, Facilities, and Public Lighting. This project encompassed the entire municipal structure and arose from the need to carry out a quantitative analysis of electricity costs and consumption and the respective calculation of CO₂ emissions. The platform also analyses self-consumption energy production. In the future, the SERES platform will be extended to other energy consumption (municipal fleet and gas) and water.