The Energy Observatory
The Energy Observatory is the Barcelona Energy Agency unit responsible for planning and monitoring the energy situation in the city. The Energy Observatory obtains information about energy and publishes a regular energy assessment, aside from planning specific short-term initiatives regarding the city’s energy and monitoring these initiatives.
It is necessary to carry out constant updates of the information in order to manage the city’s energy reality. Having data available and the evolution of this data enables us to rate the energy policies that are implemented in the city and devise lines of action for the future.
Barcelona assessment
According to the latest assessment (2022), Barcelona consumes 15,442 GWh/year, only 1,127 GWh of which is produced via renewable energy. In order to reduce the average consumption per inhabitant, 9.44 MWh, the City Council wants to minimise the city's energy dependence on fossil fuels, foster the local generation of renewable energy so as to reduce CO2 emissions and design a new, more sustainable energy model. If we disregard the two previous years, which were seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the city's total energy consumption has risen slightly in comparison to the 15,320 GWh/year registered in 2019.
The city currently generates 6,199 GWh/year of electricity locally, which represents 93% of the electrical energy consumed in Barcelona. But as only 1% of this energy is renewable, the challenge is twofold: to generate more energy locally and ensure that it is clean energy.
What can we discover from this assessment?
All this data is set out in the new 2022 Barcelona Energy Assessment. This includes figures by district and the impact of the city's energy consumption in terms of GHG emissions, which is the main cause of climate change, as well as the recent trend in Barcelona's annual emissions.
It also includes an energy assessment for the City Council, which accounts for 4.2% of overall consumption in the city.
This consumption has remained more or less stable in recent years despite the increased number of municipal facilities and services. This is due to a variety of energy-saving and efficiency-improving initiatives in a wide range of areas, including buildings, facilities, lighting and vehicle fleets, among others.
Energy consumption in Barcelona. Sankey diagram
Below is the energy Sankey diagram for Barcelona. This type of diagram allows the quick visualisation of how energy consumption is distributed across the city by sectors and sources, which is renewable and which is not, and what relationship exists between them.
Renewable energy generation in Barcelona is focused mainly on thermal solar energy and photovoltaic solar energy. The following charts show the development of their introduction in the city.