Description

Associação dos Amigos do Regato de Ponterrinhas is an Association based on an energy community (CER). Their main activities are developed around producing, consuming, storing, and selling renewable energy but the promoter also has an active role in supporting its community in a broader sense.

The promoter's first Goaprity financed four PV power plants as part of the CER.  

The present campaign aims to finance the costs of works to reactivate an 18th-century irrigation system and replace the current combustion engines with gravity-based irrigation. The promoter expects to save around 3000 liters of diesel per year by not using the combustion engine. This irrigation system will serve to irrigate about 30 hectares with maize, potatoes, beans, and vines, all traditional crops.

The Espindelo irrigation system in Pias dates back to the 18th century when local farmers and landowners found a solution to the lack of water for irrigating their land. The Pias region, located in the municipality of Lousada, is known for its diversified agricultural production, and specifically for the production of vinho verde and corn. The Espindelo irrigation system has brought enormous benefits to the farmers of Pias, but it was deactivated more than eight years ago. The project aims to be an example of successful water resource management and a symbol of the history and agricultural culture of Pias and the Lousada region.  

This project first arose within the scope of the Association's action. After approaching local farmers about photovoltaic energy production for their irrigated land, it became clear that the irrigation systems needed to become more efficient. The artesian boreholes, which collect water for the farmland, and consume electricity and diesel, could be replaced by the old irrigation systems that already exist and are unusable due to lack of maintenance and management. The Association's board decided to voice the sentence, "The most renewable energy is that which is not consumed". The necessary studies have already been carried out, and the licenses have been granted to proceed with the rehabilitation project.

The Impact

Direct

• Contribution to the decarbonization of Portugal, avoiding CO2 emissions: by replacing the current combustion engines, the project’s implementation avoids the use of 3000 liters of diesel per year. The new irrigation system will avoid the emission of over 8 tonnes of CO2 every year, and this is equivalent to the absorption of CO2 from around 365 trees.
• Improvement in the use of resources: with the rehabilitated system, there will be a 30% improvement in efficiency in water transportation for irrigation.

Indirect

• Promotion of sustainable and modernized agriculture: by replacing the combustion engine and rehabilitating a structure from the 18^th century through the gravity irrigation system, the production reduces its impact on natural resources exploration and becomes more adaptable to climate changes. Five small-holder producers will be supplied by the system, whose production provides mostly local consumption. They grow grain in the winter and corn in the summer and Vinho Verde in the demarcated region.
• Reduction of energy poverty in Portugal: through community energy production, the project will have 84 energy points belonging to 53 associates in a rural area, contributing to the generation of renewable solar energy.

Impact Indicators

8.04 T

CO2 avoided per year

Contribution to the Sustainable
Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals

Financial viability

Download Key Investment Information Sheet

The Promoter

About : ASSOCIAÇÃO AMIGOS DO REGATO DE PONTERRINHAS - COMUNIDADE DE ENERGIA RENOVÁVEL

The CER - Pias is a non-profit association that intends to share energy with its associates, through several UPCs distributed in a radius of 2 Km, centered in the parish of Pias.

Located in Lousada and founded in 2021, its purpose is to take advantage of endogenous renewable resources and rational use of energy, thus contributing to sustainable energy-environmental management in the parish of Pias, to satisfy general interest needs. They are also responsible for promoting social activities for the local population, permanently integrated with sustainability practices.

Business Model

Updates