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67.400 €

funded by 555 investors

Energy communities

Location Pin Svg
Castelões, PT

instalment

biannual

term

7 years

a year

4.5%

rating

B

Clean local energy for self-consumption in a Portuguese small town.

Description

The funds raised through this campaign will be used to finance the installation of a renewable energy community located in a small town in the North of Portugal (parish of Calvão, Castelões, in the municipality of Chaves). A total of 86,2 kWp will be installed. The plant will produce around 140,8 MWh of clean energy per year. This community will be part of the project “100 Villages” and is one of the three plants to be installed in the parish of Calvão.


“100 Aldeias” is a Portuguese project led by Cleanwatts (the promoter of this campaign and a pioneer in this type of project) and by the companies "About the Energy", in partnership with BEWG and Jeune. The mission of this project is to fight energy poverty by creating renewable energy communities that produce their own green, clean and decarbonized electricity, and promoting good energy practices among these same communities.

Adhering members will be able to buy electricity produced at the plant at a price around 25% lower than the price of the national grid during sunny hours. Participants will not be required to make any investment or change their contracts with their current energy supplier. Instead, they will only consume part of the energy generated from a local, green and sustainable source. This will accelerate the process of decarbonising these villages.

The participating members of the energy community will benefit from the referred reduced rate for a period of 20 years, with no need to make investments, nor charges or responsibilities with the operation, maintenance or installation. Cleanwatts will be responsible for the technical management of operation, maintenance and installation.

The project, which was awarded the Power Technology Excellence Awards in the Social Impact category, aims to positively impact 20,000 people living in 100 small Portuguese villages. The project is focused on rural communities and low-density territories, where it is difficult to gain scale for large photovoltaic production plants. It groups together several villages, where small photovoltaic plants will be installed, preferably on the roofs of existing buildings. 

The energy generated will benefit the locals, without them having to incur financial effort. The company will also carry out training initiatives with its Kisense and Kiplo Energy Communities energy management tools, which will be made available to the Community to monitor and identify additional savings opportunities through energy efficiency projects and the introduction of energy storage at all times. that relevant.

The Impact

Direct impact

Contribution to the decarbonisation of Portugal, avoiding CO2 emissions: with a clean energy production of around 140 MWh per year, the solar energy central will avoid the emission of 18,8 tonnes of CO2 every year. This is equivalent to the absorption of CO2 from around 900 trees.


Indirect impact

Reduction of energy poverty in Portugal: through community energy production, the "100 Aldeias" project will impact 20,000 people in 100 small Portuguese villages, with an expected reduction of around 10% of their energy costs and an increase in their levels of thermal comfort.

Impact Indicators

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18,87 t

CO2 avoided per year

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200

people impacted

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140,8

MWh clean energy

Sustainable Development Goals

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7 image

Financial viability

The project’s business model is similar to a power purchase agreement (PPA), in that the revenue generated from selling energy produced by the solar panels will be used to repay this loan.

The funded energy community will generate savings in electricity costs for its members and annual revenues that ensure the sustainability of the project and the repayment of the loan.

The project promoter (Cleanwatts Energy Projects Lda) is a Cleanwatts group company that has been developing energy projects for over 15 years and the project has an additional guarantee from Enerbellum (the group's parent company), whose financial resources are very stable.

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Download Key Investment Information Sheet

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Guarantees

Pledge of equipment.

Pledge from Enerbellum Lda (parent company).

The Promoter

About CLEANWATTS ENERGY PROJECTS, LDA

Founded in 2019 by  Luísa Matos, Basílio Simões, Michael Pinto, James McDougall and Jorge Landeck, the Cleanwatts Group brings together several entities with over 15 years of experience in the Energy sector. The company is committed to simplifying, amplifying and accelerating the decarbonization of the economy and the fight against energy poverty. Cleanwatts intends to contribute to the construction of a world in which energy is decentralized, digital and democratic. For that, it combines the power of digital technology with in-depth knowledge of clean energy systems, advanced data analytics and the financing of renewable energy projects towards a decarbonised and sustainable future.

Currently, Cleanwatts employs a talented team of over 60 specialists with an average of over 15 years of experience solving energy-related challenges in Portugal, Europe and Brazil. The company is led by an international and experienced management team with a track record of excellence in the areas of digitization, energy systems, software, data science and financial services associated with the financing of sustainability projects.


The team

Basílio Simões

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Co-Founder and President in Portugal

Serial entrepreneur with over 25 years experience as CEO, Board Member and Angel Investor. Founder and CEO of ISA (Intelligent Sensing Anywhere), scale up to 150 FTE and IPO in 2012. Foundational investor of Virtual Power Solutions (2014) and Energia Simples (2015). PhD in Technology, Physics, Invited Professor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Coimbra University.

Michael Pinto

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CEO and Co-Founder

An executive with over 25 years experience in Fortune 50 companies, leading international commercial operations, corporate finance and large-scale transformations in multiple industries, tech sectors and financial services across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Luisa Matos

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CIO/COO & Co-Founder

Economist, MSc, MBA, Oxford DIPSI, PhD in Energy BMs and Digital Transformation (finishing). Over 15 years experience in senior management, business strategy, innovation, RTD, MKT and product development. Co-founder and CEO of Virtual Power Solutions.

Business Model

The Cleanwatts group develops digital energy management platforms that enable its customers to monitor, manage, optimize, and control their energy consumption, production, storage, procurement, balancing, and trading needs.

By combining the knowledge of a multidisciplinary team in terms of digital solutions, financing and operations, Cleanwatts simplifies the complexity of energy management for its customers. Thus, its customers are able to reduce the time, risk and costs associated with a successful energy transition.

At the moment, the group manages the energy of more than 2000 client buildings from different sectors (Banking, Hotels, Health, Manufacturing, Transport, Higher Education Institutions and Local Communities), as well as individuals. It also participates in internationally recognized research projects, such as the Flexunity, Ianos or Integridy.

The projects developed by the company generate energy savings enough to recover the initial investment in short periods of time. This way, customers often do not need to make any investment, with Cleanwatts services being provided under an ESaaS – Energy Savings as a Service regime.

The Group also develops energy management and trading platforms that are particularly important for Smart Cities and Energy Communities. For this, it has developed an innovative Operating System that is used by Energy Community managers in various parts of the world.

Through its Energy Communities, Cleanwatts is becoming a provider of clean, affordable energy through a network of digitally interconnected renewable energy resources. The concern with the positive impact on society is always present in the company's projects. That is why 2% of the income generated is invested in social initiatives chosen by the respective local communities.

Active since

2019

Fiscal country

PT

Operating In

Europa, USA and Brazil

Industry

Renewable energy

Number of Goparity Loans

11

Women Shareholders

Yes

Updates

2022-07-26

First payment

First instalment was paid to all the investors

2022-01-20

100% funded

535 investors successfully raised 67.400€

2021-12-30

Open for investment

This campaign will help avoid the emission of 29 tons of CO2 per year

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