EDP and the Portuguese Postal Service (CTT – Correios de Portugal) have signed a strategic partnership agreement for the installation of solar energy power stations in more than 40 locations.

These parks will provide renewable energy to the CTT buildings and, as the majority of the locations have more space available than required for supplying those facilities, energy communities will also be created, allowing families and businesses to also share in this renewable energy and benefit from real savings in their bills.

The members of these Solar Boroughs—the name EDP gives to local energy communities—will make savings of up to 35% on electricity. CTT will not only power its buildings with sustainable energy and be able to share this with the surrounding population, but will also benefit from significant savings and reduce its dependency on the power grid through this partnership.

Families and businesses neighboring the locations chosen by CTT will be able to join these Solar Boroughs. The investment, maintenance, and operation of the panels will be performed by EDP, which will also recruit the community from the neighbors and manage it. The list of locations is available at edp.pt.

This is the first EDP Comercial project where a number of energy communities are being installed alongside a single customer, helping to accelerate the development of renewable energy in Portugal. Solar generation distributed in small power stations is an essential component in achieving the national decarbonization targets. In total, around 12,000 solar panels will be installed in continental Portugal, with combined installed power of 6MWp and an area equivalent to eight American football fields.

João Bento, CEO of CTT, said: “It is with great pride that we are partnering with EDP Comercial in this initiative. Sustainability is of enormous importance to CTT, and we could not fail to join a project that so clearly reflects our values. We aim to shrink our carbon footprint, not only through our own portfolio, but also through partnerships like this we have signed with EDP, which, we believe, marks the beginning of close cooperation for our common goal: producing a more sustainable world and supporting families and businesses."

Vera Pinto Pereira, Executive Director of EDP, said: "We believe that this project will be a fundamental step towards democratizing access to solar energy and, accordingly, in promoting an equitable energy transition. This is a very interesting business model for achieving this, promoting not only solar energy consumption, but also generating significant savings for both producers and consumers. In joining these communities, families and businesses are partnering with EDP and CTT to contribute to a more sustainable country."

For CTT, this partnership enables a significant energy saving, being an important step forward in the Company's decarbonization strategy. The annual production for these facilities will be 8.8GWh, which will avoid more than 1,600 tons of CO2 emissions. The capillarity of CTT with the nearby population is evidenced by the opportunities to participate in the Solar Boroughs project. It is this proximity that enables the energy generation to supply the Solar Boroughs.

The EDP Solar Boroughs are communities using locally-produced renewable energy, which will benefit their members—the Producers and the Neighbors. The solar panels will be installed in spaces provided by the Producers, without associated investment, and the energy produced will be distributed to everybody: to the Producers and to the Neighbors in this Solar Borough. In this way, everyone will benefit from the discounts in their bills and will be contributing to a more sustainable world. This is one of the growth axes of EDP, which intends to have more than 2GW installed at family homes and at businesses by the middle of the decade in the different countries where it operates.

Sustainability is a fundamental pillar in the CTT strategy, with three environmental targets set: 50% of last-mile vehicles to be electric by 2025, for which the Company has made a strong investment in renewing its road fleet, the largest in the national logistics sector, with more than 400 totally electric vehicles, and is also inaugurating the first fully 'green' Delivery Centers. In addition, the company aims to use only exclusively recycled or recyclable packaging, promoting responsible consumption. Finally, CTT aims to achieve the target of net zero by 2030.