Culatra 2030 - Sustainable Energy Community

Under the scope of the CE4EU, in 2019 six pilot islands were identified to each develop their own “Island Clean Energy Transition Agenda” (CETA), a strategic roadmap for the transition process towards clean energy. One of those islands was Culatra, a small island located in Algarve, Portugal, one of the five barrier islands that compose the Ria Formosa Natural Park, a multi-inlet barrier island system in southern Portugal. The island is about 7 km long and has a maximum width of 1.2 km, comprising a total area of 4.34 km2. Three settlements exist on the island, the largest of which is the Culatra Village with 759 inhabitants, which stands as the case study for this project. Fishing is at the centre of the village of Culatra and reflects the adaptation of the population to the space and environment in which it operates, the Ria Formosa. The Ria Formosa, the most important wetland of Portugal, is unique and remarkable, and is amongst the most studied coastal areas of Portugal on a wide range of topics from geomorphology and coastal dynamics to ecology, biodiversity, economy and social values.

The initiative today known as “Culatra2030 – Sustainable Energy Community” is a pilot transition initiative, uniting support from the key stakeholders, including the Minister of the Sea, the Coordination Commission for the Algarve Region, the Faro City Municipality, energy and environmental authorities, companies and non-governmental associations. The project has the ambition to be a pivot step on behalf of sustainability issues in Portugal, particularly on clean energy and smart grid flexibility, since a 100% renewable energy future will intelligently combine variable RES, integrated into a smart grid system providing continuous energy supply. The innovative starting point of Culatra2030 was the development of the Culatra’ CETA, a roadmap for energy transition until 2030, through a Community Participatory Diagnosis (CPD), which proved essential for defining priorities and generating ideas for actions with a high degree of commitment by all local actors, i.e. island communities, public authorities, academia and commercial companies. Resulting from applications within the scope of the Culatra 2030 initiative, the housing nucleus of Culatra currently has a photovoltaic (PV) installation of 90 kWp and 46 kWh of Lithium batteries storage, about 1/4 of its energy needs. In addition to the installed capacity for energy production, the initiative also acquired funding for the technological development of a solar boat to be used on oyster farming and a connection point to the electricity grid, allowing interaction with the remaining photovoltaic installation. Other sporadic funds were attained for community engagement on sustainability issues, such as campaigns to eliminate single use free plastic, promote sustainable tourism, create an artisanal fishing market, build community organic composters, create new products from fishing ghost gear and shellfish farming methods, promote cultural/sustainable festivals, and develop a modular desalinisation unit.

The true value of the Culatra 2030 initiative lies in its all-encompassing strategy covering multiple aspects of the green transition, including social, economic and environmental issues such as energy poverty, decentralized energy markets and coastal resilience. Rather than the development of new technology per se, the key perspective is the holistic model and the demonstration character of the initiative, i.e., a living laboratory for transition, through which the island will become the first Portuguese coastal community that is fully sustainable. The initiative involves technical and non-technical personnel, employees and volunteers, such as coastal oceanographers, electrical engineers, mechanical and civil engineers, architects, marine biologists, economists, sociologists, fishermen, shellfish farmers, artists, undergraduate students and, most importantly, an entire coastal community. This successful organization structure has already been responsible for capturing funds for the sustainable transition, as well as strengthening the research performance on the renewable energy sector, since Culatra was granted on January 2023 the status of pilot project on REC by the Portuguese Energy Regulator (ERSE). It was also selected by the Rural Energy Communities Advisory Hub (RECAH), an initiative of the European Commission, as a best practice for the successful establishment and functioning of REC, so that it may be replicated for other communities across Europe, as well as a guiding example included in MISSION ZERO, an independent review of the UK government’s approach to delivering its net zero target.