According to the foundation that represents them, microvillages are municipalities with fewer than a thousand inhabitants, occupying half of our country's territory and home to only 2.4% of the population. This represents a large part of rural Catalonia, which is experiencing demographic and economic recession.
According to the annual report of the Renewable Energy Observatory of Catalonia (OBERcat), if the energy transition continues as the Generalitat (Catalan Government) forecasts, municipalities will receive significant amounts in taxes and landowners in rent. These local benefits will not depend on the goodwill of project developers, but rather on the local population's perception of renewable energy (RE) installations.
It turns out that the wind blows and the sun shines with the same intensity over a micro-town as it does over a large city. It shouldn't surprise us, then, that developers tend to prioritize small towns: more free space and, perhaps, less organized opposition, which tends to magnify the threats and minimize the opportunities. Here we'll talk about the opportunities.
The first question we must ask ourselves is how much energy should be generated in a municipality. The first criterion (energy consumption) considers that the electricity consumed in the municipality must be generated. It is often used to reject a wind or solar farm, as this consumption is always much lower than the electricity that the renewable energy projects presented would generate. Arguments such as "We want an energy-self-sufficient municipality" or "the town doesn't need that much electricity" are often used.
The weakness of these arguments leads us to the second criterion (that of "consumption energy"), which considers not only electricity but also fuels and the energy required to produce the goods and services enjoyed by the municipality's residents. This energy is consumed outside the municipality, but from which the population benefits. According to this criterion, any municipality should generate an amount of energy proportional to its population.
One problem with this second criterion is that some entire regions and many municipalities are unable to generate this "consumption energy." Therefore, "territorial co-responsibility" is necessary, which leads to the third criterion. Each municipality should generate energy according to its capture potential. This criterion entails a contribution more or less proportional to the municipality's surface area.
If we consider a medium-sized municipality (34 km²), a wind power capacity of 60 MW or a photovoltaic capacity of 95 MW would be required, which would be achieved with approximately 12 wind turbines or occupying 150 hectares, respectively. These figures give an idea of the enormous amount of energy that an advanced country like ours requires to function normally.
In return, the municipality would receive approximately €1.7 million in taxes per year for construction and approximately €120,000 each year for the 30 years of operation. These are very respectable amounts, especially for micro-villages, which would significantly improve their budgetary capacity. For example, in a medium-sized micro-village of 400 inhabitants, the budget is around €640,000. Thus, over the life of the wind or solar installation, municipal revenues would increase by 27%.
Obviously, revenue will depend on the capacity ultimately installed. In any case, in absolute terms, revenue per MW would be the same regardless of the municipality's size. However, while for a city with tens of thousands of inhabitants the impact would be minimal, for micro-towns it will be very significant. Although it may seem erroneous, we can affirm that the energy transition actually produces a transfer of economic resources from the urban to the rural world.
It will be up to local governments to make good use of their resources to improve the quality of life of their residents and offer services that make the municipality attractive to live in. Teleworking and new professions related to the digital revolution make this easier.
Renewable energy installations themselves will contribute to population stability. According to the same OBERcat report, the construction and maintenance of wind and solar farms will require the equivalent of approximately 9,000 permanent workers by 2050. Indirect and induced employment would be similar. To get an idea of what this number of jobs represents, let's look at the results of rural development projects funded by the European LEADER program. During the 2016-2020 period, the equivalent of nearly 400 direct jobs were created, 90% of them in rural areas. The comparison gives an idea of the potential of the energy transition for demographic recovery in rural areas.
The benefits for micro-villages of renewable energy installations are clear and must be leveraged to counteract catastrophic rhetoric. Not all projects are good, but it's better to initially view them as an opportunity than a threat.
