Vilawatt - Innovative local public-private-citizen partnership for energy governance

The VILAWATT project aimed to secure a stable energy transition process through deep energy renovation of residential buildings in one of the most deprived districts of Viladecans, helping the city to tackle fuel poverty. The project created an innovative Public-Private-Citizen governance Partnership (PPCP), structured around 3 main pillars. First, a Local Energy Operator was established to act as a local energy supplier and renewable energy producer. An Energy Savings Company, offering renovation and energy saving services to its members (the municipality, businesses and citizens) was created. Finally, a financial mechanism to capitalise the energy savings (generated through contracts with households having benefited from initial investments) was used by the new entity to further invest in deep energy renovations in the municipality. A new energy currency linked to the savings worked as an incentive for energy efficiency and as a mechanism to increase the economic capacity of vulnerable groups. The project involved regional stakeholders active in the fields of ethical banking, community management, social innovation, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

During its implementation, the UIA project has capitalised on its experience so that it can be shared with peers. The outputs displayed on this page are the result of this process.