Renewable energy sources continue to improve and merge into mainstream use. One of the best examples of this is Barcelona-based group HolaLuz, an electricity company who are 100% renewable.

Leading the transformation of the energy sector in Spain, thanks to innovation and honesty, HolaLuz are certified by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), who check every six months that – as a minimum – they present the same amount of renewable energy as the amount needed to satisfy their customers’ demands.

Literally translated from Spanish as ‘hello light’, HolaLuz utilises a range of renewable energy sources which include photovoltaic energy from solar panels, biomass such as sewage or animal waste, hydraulic energy from dams and reservoirs and even small amounts of bio-gas produced by animal, vegetable and household waste. Their biggest source of energy, however, is through energy recovery –  a recycling method using waste such as paper, cardboard and plastic to recover their inherent energy and stop the process of degradation.

HolaLuz also installed Spain’s first shared self-consumption solar photovoltaic and battery storage facility on a house in Barcelona, after a change in legislation in 2017 which had previously prohibited the sharing of energy production facilities between several users, which it hopes to implement across the country.  This would allow both for self-consumption of solar and for several neighbours to share and receive energy from one rooftop solar system.

“We always say, we are lucky not to be the only alternative to the usual,” explains co-founder Carlota Pi Amoros. “In recent years there are many electric companies that, like us, have become a real alternative. We love to see that we are no longer ‘weirdos’.”

AtlasAction: Become a part of Spain’s self-consumption society with HolaLuz.

Student at Bournemouth University and intern/accidental activist with Atlas of the Future, Matthew spends his time promoting the solutions of tomorrow and staying out of his overdraft.