Wales Office Minister highlights Government boost to community energy
2 Apr 2014 11:40 AM
Baroness Randerson hosts meeting on local energy
projects
Experts from the energy industry, third sector and
environment sector met with Wales Office Minister, Baroness Jenny Randerson
this week (31 March) to discuss how local communities in Wales can take control
of their energy bills by setting up their own local energy
projects.
In
January this year, the UK Government published its Community Energy Strategy
which sets out the role that communities can play in helping to meet the
UK’s energy and climate change challenges, including supporting a
sustainable and secure energy system; reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions; and
lowering consumer bills.
As
part of her commitment to promote the Big Society in Wales, Baroness Randerson
welcomed the group of experts to the University of South East Wales in Newport,
to examine the opportunities and challenges local groups face when setting up
community energy projects.
Baroness Randerson said:
“Community led action, such as collective
switching, gives people the power to bring down bills and encourages
competition within the energy market. That is why I wanted to bring this group
together to better understand what work is already being undertaken to support
community energy projects, to highlight successful projects, and to determine
what more can be done to encourage more communities to become involved in
community energy.
“Wales is perfect for small scale renewable energy
cooperation between companies and the local community, and I want to encourage
groups of people across the country to participate in a community energy
movement and take real control of their energy bills.”
Baroness Randerson welcomed Lucy Morgans from the
Department for Energy and Climate Change to the meeting who provided the group
with an overview of the strategy. Welsh Government officials were also in
attendance to outline the schemes available to support community energy
projects in Wales.
The
group also heard from Andrew Rowland who highlighted his own personal
experiences of setting up his own community energy project, Ecodyfi in the Dyfi
Valley. Of the event he said:
“I was pleased with the event, it was a frank
discussion and the Minister was keen to understand the reality of what is
needed to grow the community energy sector.”
Baroness Randerson added:
“The key aim of the Big Society is to help people
to come together within their communities to improve their
lives.
“There is already a number of existing community
energy projects in Wales, like Ecodyfi, and there is clearly an appetite for
more to be set up. I want to make sure the UK Government and Welsh Government
work more closely together to provide communities with the assistance and
advice necessary to enable them to bring local energy projects to
fruition.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Under the Community Energy Strategy, the UK Government
will broaden the support available for community energy projects, whereby
people come together to reduce their energy use or purchase and generate their
own energy. Plans include:
- £10m Urban Community Energy Fund to kick-start
community energy generation projects in England;
- £1m Big Energy Saving Network funding to support
the work of volunteers helping vulnerable consumers to reduce their
energy;
- a
community energy saving competition, offering £100,000 to communities to
develop innovative approaches to saving energy and money; and
- a
“one-stop shop” information resource for people interested in
developing community energy projects.
Guests in attendance at the meeting
included:
- Professor Alan Guwy, University of South
Wales
- Lucy Morgans, Department of Energy and Climate
Change
- Andrew Rowland, Ecodyfi
- Charlotte Gibson, Welsh Government
- Robert Proctor, Renew Wales
- David Fitzpatrick, Cynnal Cymru/Sustain
Wales
- Chris Blake, The Green Valleys
- Gareth Ellis, The Green Valleys
- Duncan McCombie, Energy Saving Trust
- Dr
David Clubb, Renewable UK Cymru
- Jon
d’Estre-Hoare, the FSE Group
- Tomos Davies, Community Housing Cymru
Group
- Anna Rees, The Waterloo Foundation
- Nick Wood, The Waterloo Foundation