Most of us don’t think about energy day to day, other than what it costs us. We rely on it to be there when we need it to power and heat our homes, businesses and communities.
When we do take time to look at our bills and energy equipment such as boilers and appliances, it’s not always clear how to make changes.
It can seem daunting to understand what produces our electricity and heat, how to use less of it and how we can move away from using polluting fossil fuels.
Increasing extreme weather events across Europe mean prolonged power outages are no longer unthinkable, as Ireland experienced after Storm Éowyn earlier this year.
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There is both an awakening to the importance of energy in our daily lives and a recognition of our vulnerabilities when it is not readily available to us. Communities in Ireland and across Europe are trying to do something about energy where they live.
To date more than 1,000 communities around Ireland have registered with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to become sustainable energy communities (SECs).
While not all are currently active, we know that 185 SECs have recently worked to complete energy master plans setting out what they want to do next. Energy communities are proving they can be key local partners.
They are busy working to deliver on energy efficiency, energy generation and sharing knowledge. They are offering advice and support for those in energy poverty and bringing cost savings to communities.
Energy communities are supporting households who want to retrofit their homes. In Dunleer, Co Louth, an SEC and social enterprise have successfully upgraded 450 homes, bringing increased comfort, energy efficiency and energy savings.
Other communities are generating renewable electricity to bring local economic value, with more wanting to do the same. In Templederry, Co Tipperary, there is a locally owned wind farm, and a group of SECs have set up Ireland’s first community owned electricity supplier, Community Power. Solar projects are in the pipeline.
The Aran Islands Energy Co-operative, Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árann, has 100 household members aiming for energy self-sufficiency and increased resilience.
The co-operative is an employer and carries out retrofits as well as installing solar panels. In the Dingle peninsula, farmers are bringing energy savings through solar photovoltaic (PV) installations supported by the West Kerry Dairy Farmers SEC.
Energy communities are engaging with households living in disadvantaged communities. Wexford Town SEC collaborated with the local authority and others to support a local energy champion in Southend.
A family resource worker sat down with residents to support them to apply for SEAI grants and programmes, such as the Warmer Home Scheme. Today, these households benefit from increased comfort, warmth and cost savings.
Soon energy communities in Ireland will be able to do even more, as we’ve seen in other European countries. New energy sharing opportunities are coming, driven by European policy, which will enable virtual sharing of renewable electricity generated from, for example, solar PV, between households, communities and others whether they own the panels or not.
Energy communities in the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallonia were able to bring more affordable energy to their members during the energy crisis. There is a policy foundation in place for these energy community groups, providing advisory and grant supports through SEAI to help them “learn-plan-do” and support from the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment through the Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS).
Despite this support to date and the level of interest shown, these communities are finding it difficult to move forward in practical ways to deliver projects they wish to see in their areas.
How can these projects be expanded and more developed? Recent publications by the National Economic and Social Council (Nesc) on the energy transition highlight that the “doing” for energy communities is almost undoable.
Our research found that projects are technically, financially and administratively challenging. Renewable energy communities wishing to generate power now face barriers, including difficulty accessing financing for projects, administrative burden, policy limitations and accessing the electricity grid.
The dependence on unpaid volunteers adds to the challenge for complex, technical and resource-intensive projects.
Some energy communities feel their role and potential is not fully recognised and perceive a lack of trust in their capacity to manage finance, despite Ireland having a long history of co-operatives in other sectors.
To move forward, we need to find ways to back different types of projects, to ensure support meets communities where they are. A range of ownership models work well in other European countries where energy communities work in partnership with local authorities, private developers and others.
They need development funds and robust project delivery to be successful, and other countries support shared equity schemes, raising finance through affordable loans and “crowd funding” – a type of public investment.
Seeing is believing. Funding innovative demonstration projects would showcase the potential and impact of communities working to generate renewable electricity, share energy and increase energy efficiency.
Involving SECs in local energy planning, clean heat and development of district heating schemes makes sense, given it is an area where Ireland currently is well behind some of our European peers.
Energy communities can become an integral part of local resilience planning, if supported, including establishing local energy hubs and backup resources as we adapt to climate change.
To meet our climate commitments, reduce pollution and heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, Ireland is committed to ambitious action to deliver a renewable energy future.
To get there, the energy transition should work for everyone. Recognising energy communities as key actors can yield broader societal benefits and significant economic opportunities.
Ireland will be missing a trick if these energy communities, and others like them thinking about acting, are not enabled to reach their full potential. We must also ensure the changes to come do not disproportionally impact on any group or area of the country.
The transition must be a just transition. Without truly empowering our communities, we risk building an energy system that is neither fair nor resilient as we adapt to climate change.
The European Union is championing development of energy communities as a vital tool to support a just transition. These initiatives serve as a critical community action gateway for broader climate and sustainable development action at a local level and building support for the energy transition.
It is critical that we make sure communities are engaged and listened to, to respond to their interest in being part of the journey to a cleaner energy future that we are undertaking.
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If there are local challenges, they need to be understood, and ways forward identified and acted upon. Energy communities could increase levels of local engagement with energy and if supported could work to ensure there is diversity and inclusive participation in more communities, building a just transition from the ground up.
Ireland has made early strides in recognising and supporting energy communities, and a good policy foundation is in place. However, the “scaffolding” requires strengthening if it is going to deliver an energy transition that works for all.
Dr Jeanne Moore is policy analyst at the National Economic and Social Council
