A total of 168 investors, of which 35 are from the Balearic Islands, have contributed the 809,360 euros offered to socialise 40% of the project.
The project for the first photovoltaic park open to local participation in Spain, located in the municipality of Santa Margalida (Mallorca), has raised the necessary investment of 809,360 euros in 45 days thanks to the contribution of 168 investors from all over Spain, 35 of whom come from the Balearic Islands, which represents an average investment per person of almost 5,000 euros.

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The photovoltaic plant will be called Santa Eulàlia and consists of a double plant of 9.626 MWp, which will be connected to the medium-voltage electricity grid, to the rural estate of polygon 14, plot 90, and will cover an area of 5 hectares. The solar park will consist of two identical installations of 4.813 MWp each, Santa Eulàlia I and Santa Eulàlia II. These installations are owned by different owners and have different and independent connection points to the distribution networks.

The bid for this wind farm (divided into two) was 809,360 euros, which represents a 40% stake in the company (in each of them). It should be noted that thanks to the spirit established in the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition and its desire to democratise energy, 20% of the economic return will remain in the Balearic Islands.

Article 49 of Law 10/2019, of 22 February, on climate change and energy transition, sets out the conditions relating to local participation in renewable generation facilities and establishes that they must be offered to local investment. In this regard, the Law states that ‘for the purposes of this Law, renewable generation projects with local participation are considered to be those in which it is accredited that the possibility of participating in at least 20 % of the ownership of the project has been offered to natural or legal persons, public or private, located in the municipality in which the installation is to be located or in the municipalities bordering it’.

It should be remembered that the residents of Santa Margalida had priority for 15 days to adhere to this investment. Once this period was over, the radius was extended to the neighbouring municipalities: Artà, Petra, Ariany, Maria de la Salut, Llubí and Muro. Likewise, 15 days later, social participation was extended to the rest of the autonomous community and 15 days after that, to the rest of Spain.

The Law also states that ‘in the event that the project is channelled through a commercial company, 20 % of the ownership of the project must be understood as 20 % of the channelling company. If the same project is carried out by several companies, the opening up to local investment may never be less than 20 % of the total nominal value of all the shares or holdings of the companies that are the vehicles for the project’.

According to the Law, the offer of local participation will be mandatory when the renewable generation project is located on land and has a capacity equal to or greater than 5 MW. In this regard, if the number of interested natural or legal persons does not reach 20 %, the offer must be extended to natural or legal persons, public or private, located in neighbouring municipalities. If the 20 % is still not exhausted, the offer should be extended to natural or legal persons, public or private, located in the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands.

The Director-General of Energy and Climate Change, Pep Malagrava, explained the importance of socialising this type of park in order to continue deepening the democratisation of energy, which is being implemented in the Balearic Islands: “local participation is essential in the new distributed energy model that is coming, we will no longer have one or two thermal power plants in the territory but many renewable facilities. Moreover, this local participation links the project with the territory and its citizens. That is why the path we are embarking on with this park is so important, as it allows the citizens of the municipality of Santa Margalida to invest in a renewable generation plant and obtain benefits from this investment, returning these benefits primarily to the territory where the park is installed”.