CEFI’s first event was a success!
On Wednesday December 1st 2021, the Community Energy Federation of Ireland (CEFI) held its first event online via Zoom. The session explained the Federation’s aims and objectives, followed by presentations from 3 Counties Energy Agency and Lochem Energie.
The presentation from Sean de Buitlear on behalf of CEFI saw the aims of the Federation outlined, based on the Daft Terms of Reference (read this document here).
Alex Hamilton presented on behalf of 3 Counties Energy Agency and discussed the urgent need for cooperation and action to tackle the Climate Crisis. Alex’s presentations touched on the targets set out by the EU and Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and explained how Energy Agencies across Ireland deliver supports to achieve these goals by supporting the Sustainable Energy Community network.
Tonnie Tekelenburg represented Lochem Energie, a Dutch partner of the ECCO project. Tonnie discussed how Lochem Energie grew into a successful cooperative with numerous innovation projects. Tonnie talked about LochemEnergie’s many achievements, including over one hundred solar PV installations for tenants, with several part-time employees and over one thousand cooperative members. Tonnie explained the various projects that Lochem has explored and plans to consider, including energy trading and collective solar PV.
The presenters made some important comments in regards to building Community Energy projects. Alex pointed out the shared knowledge that exists within communities and the experience of developing projects that are not being utilized to their full potential yet – being aware and making use of knowledge from other groups can assist new groups to grow their projects. Tonnie talked about the importance of taking action on projects, avoiding time wasted, and understanding the ‘growing pains’ associated with growing a cooperative.
The overall message was the urgency for action and the massive opportunity for community groups to get involved in the energy transition as a solution to the Climate Crisis.
The first event saw over thirty people signing on for the presentations from a range of backgrounds and locations across Ireland, which shows the enthusiasm for the Federation and the objectives it is planning to meet.
If you missed this session, the recording is available here to watch back.
The next session is planned for January 20th, with speakers from an Irish community energy group and a French ECCO partner. Details on how to register for this session will be shared here shortly.