Community Energy Fortnight gears up for second series of events

After the success of the first ever Community Energy Forthright last year, a second series of events is scheduled to take place from the 13th to 28th September. The events take place across the UK and aim to engage and inspire people about the wide-ranging benefits of community energy.

The fortnight is organised by the Community Energy Coalition (CEC), which was founded in 2011. The coalition is made up of 36 members from civil society, including the Church of England, the Co-operative Energy, the Eden Project, the National Union of Students and Forum of the Future.

The organisation states that its aim is to “ignite and energy revolution” that places communities at its heart and strives for a clean, affordable and secure energy system. In order to achieve this, it works with communities across the UK to help them generate and save energy.

Community Energy Fortnight will see projects open their doors, giving members of the public a change to see their local renewable projects up close, meet the people behind them and learn more about the benefits.

Last year events ranged from a walking tour of mountain hydros in Snowdonia and a community heat workshop, to a visits to wind and solar farms and a DIY solar PV workshop for low-income groups.

At the beginning of this year, the government unveiled a £10 million fund set up to help communities generate their own power through shared ownership of renewable projects. The government’s Community Energy Strategy, which CEC was a key contributor to, outlined plans to support community energy generation and other measures aimed at helping vulnerable customers and improving energy efficiency through community support.

Photo: Jeff Kubina 

Further reading:

Community Energy Strategy launched to help renewables projects

Co-operative Energy to sponsor Community Energy Fortnight

Public shows renewables interest ahead of Community Energy Strategy unveiling

Community Energy Strategy: the reaction

Local councils told to stop blocking community energy projects