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53.500 €

funded by 529 investors

Energy communities X

Location Pin Svg
Coimbra, PT

instalment

biannual

term

7 years

a year

5.65%

rating

B-

Clean local energy for self-consumption.

Description

The funds raised through this campaign will be used to finance the installation of a renewable energy community located in the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. 

The energy community will be installed in two separate locations at Centro Norton de Matos and a local company called Crossing Answers, combined the two plants will have an installed capacity of 74.6 kWp, and produce around 96MWh of clean energy per year. This community will be part of the project “100 Villages”.

Each Renewable Energy Community (REC) has a radius of about 2km, centered on the facility where the PV plant will be installed (anchor producer). The promoter will find consumers in this region, preferably with social affinities and consumption profiles complementary to that of the anchor producer. The REC can also grow with the adhesion of new members who have rooftops or land with capacity to expand the installed PV power, or with the introduction of other renewable generation sources (wind, biomass or hydroelectric, for example).

Centro Norton de Matos is a Association founded in 1950 in Coimbra that offers a large variety of services and activities to their community mostly related to sports, culture, and leisure, from basketball and ballet to chess and card games. 

The organization will become 48% energy sufficient and will become carbon-positive by producing 199% of its total energy consumption. The excess energy will positively impact 30 families in the surrounding areas.

Crossing Answers develops innovative tech based solutions that simplify the interaction between people and unattended equipment. 

The company will become 34% energy sufficient and will become carbon-positive by producing 109% of its total energy consumption. The excess energy will positively impact 22 families in the surrounding areas.

“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. Their 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 decarbonizing 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 Impact

Direct  

  • Contribution to the decarbonization of Portugal, avoiding CO2 emissions:with a clean energy production of over 96.5 MWh per year, the solar energy central will avoid the emission of more than 13.2 tonnes of CO2 every year. This is equivalent to the absorption of CO2 from 601 trees. 

Indirect  

  • 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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13,23 t

CO2 avoided per year

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96,6

MWh clean energy

Sustainable Development Goals

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7 image
13 image

Financial viability

The maturity of the loan was calculated so that the installments will be paid by the revenues obtained from the supply of energy produced to the members of the Community.

This will generate savings in electricity costs for members and annual revenues in excess of the investment, which guarantees the sustainability of the project.

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Download Key Investment Information Sheet

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Guarantees

Cleanwatts SA pledge and equipment pledge.

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

2023-12-07

First payment

First instalment was paid to all the investors

2023-06-07

100% funded

513 investors successfully raised 53.500€

2023-05-18

Open for investment

This campaign will help avoid the emission of 13 tons of CO2 per year

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