What is Community Energy?

Community energy refers to a movement where local communities have ownership and influence over both the energy they consume and produce. Northern Ireland remains the only UK region where community energy does not yet feature in the strategy of the devolved government[1], nor is the term explicitly defined. As such, community energy can take many diverse forms.  Beyond collective ownership of renewable technologies, community energy is all about empowering local people and includes education that sets out to raise awareness of climate change and sustainability promoting the improvement energy efficiency and climate justice, tackling social issues such as fuel poverty.

Across the UK and ROI, community energy has been a powerful driver in the transition towards net-zero. By turning passive consumers into active changemakers, community energy helps local people to take charge of their energy future, whilst addressing social challenges, building social ties and ensuring that both the economic and environmental benefits behind community energy stay directly within the community.

Is Community Energy Thriving Across Northern Ireland?

Despite its potential, Northern Ireland has struggled to keep pace with its neighbours across the UK and ROI in developing a well-established support structure for community energy initiatives; lacking a unified system for guidance, funding and collaboration. Across Scotland, dedicated support structures and funding schemes[2] have enabled community energy projects to thrive. Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland benefits from government-backed initiatives and a structured policy framework[3]. Northern Ireland currently lacks a similar infrastructure, leaving community groups navigating a disjointed landscape of funding streams, regulatory requirements and accessible technical advice.

Whilst great work is taking place at grassroots level across Northern Ireland, such as community-owned wind turbines and small-scale hydroelectric projects, efforts remain fragmented. The lack of a dedicated community energy strategy, limited funding options and regulatory barriers have stifled the growth of a thriving community energy landscape. Without stronger support, local communities find it difficult to navigate the landscape and successfully develop and sustain their projects.

 

What Can We Do to Increase Community Energy in Northern Ireland?

To fully unlock the potential for community energy, Northern Ireland must address several key challenges and barriers. In contrast to its neighbours, Northern Ireland does not yet have a central information point dedicated to supporting community energy projects. A structured support system could provide step-by-step project guidance, technical expertise and signpost to an index of funding opportunities. Dedicated funding support, such as grants, low-interest loans or tax reliefs for community-led projects are important tools to support community groups with the initial outlays for their projects. Without these funding mechanisms in place, local communities are forced to rely on small grants which limit the scalability of their projects.

Moreover, the complex and lengthy processes for grid connection and securing planning permission make it all the more difficult for projects to get off the ground. Streamlining these processes and reducing associated costs could greatly reduce the barriers to community energy. Many communities remain unaware of the potential benefits of community energy and how they can get involved. Combined with Northern Ireland’s lack of a dedicated community energy policy, the importance of community energy in the transition towards Net-Zero has been understated[4]. Increasing education, outreach and showcasing successful case studies can act as models for best practice to help inspire more communities to begin their community energy journey.

Next Steps: Action Renewables’ Partnership with the Energy Learning Network

Action Renewables is committed towards advancing community energy across Northern Ireland with its role in the Energy Learning Network (ELN)[5]. A transformative National Lottery funded project aimed at empowering communities across the UK, this project aims to build skills, provide informative resources, address regional barriers to involvement and to create a collaborative environment for local communities to thrive.

As part of its work to become the representative body for community energy across Northern Ireland, Action Renewables will look to tailor resources to support local needs and host events to raise the awareness on the benefits to community energy, mirroring the successful models of our Energy Learning Network partners, Community Energy England, Community Energy Scotland, Community Energy Wales, Centre for Sustainable Energy and Ashden.

Action Renewables will look to contribute to the ELN’s annual “State of the Sector”[6] research, providing Northern Ireland specific insights to better inform policy and practice to address regional needs. Action Renewables will work closely with partners across the UK to leverage existing resources and ensure that the communities of Northern Ireland can benefit from new learnings and best practice.

A Final Word

Community energy has the potential to play a key role in the energy transition across Northern Ireland; empowering local people to reduce their carbon footprint and building stronger communities. While faced with significant challenges, a co-ordinated approach combined of funding, education, policy reform and co-design, can unlock additional opportunity. Through the Energy Learning Network, Action Renewables is committed to making community energy a widespread reality across Northern Ireland.

[1] SP Energy Networks. (2024). Powering Change: New Community Energy Team Launches to Help Local Green Ambitions and Support UK Government Targets.

[2] Local Energy Scotland. (n.d.). Funding.

[3] Government of Ireland. (2024). Climate Action Plan 2024.

[4] Department for the Economy (2021) Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland: Path to Net Zero.

[5] Ashden. (n.d.). The Energy Learning Network.

[6] Community Energy England. (n.d.) State of the Sector.

 

Author: Jack Stewart