New Date Confirmed! Free webinar to highlight local opportunities for renewable energy projects

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Organisers have now confirmed a new date, the new event date is scheduled on Thursday, 2nd December 2021 at 9:30-11:30.

More communities than ever before are coming together to develop renewable energy projects in their own localities, according to a Kilkenny-based energy engineer. A recent study conducted by Mullan Grid Consulting, for 3cea with funding from Kilkenny Leader Partnership, highlights the electricity grid’s capacity for renewable energy projects in County Kilkenny.

Register here: https://webinar-on-the-kilkenny-grid-study-findings.eventbrite.ie

Agenda

• 9:30am – Part 1 – Introduction

• 9:40am – Grid Study Findings

• 10:20am – Q&A

• 10:30am – Break

• 10:45am – Part 2 – Introduction

• 10:50am – Community Renewable Project

• 11:30am – Q&A

• 11:45am – End

After registering, you will receive further information from the team about joining the Event.

The event will be hosted on Zoom.

If you would like to be updated on when that event will be please email events@3cea.ie

 

 

The first session, hosted by Rory Mullan of electrical engineering consultancy Mullan Grid Consulting, will discuss the findings of a recent grid study carried out in the Kilkenny area. All energy produced by a renewable energy project must be transported via the grid to homes and businesses across the country. For a community renewable energy project to be feasible, there must be capacity available in the grid to take the energy produced. This session will help attendees to identify if there is an opportunity to connect to the grid in their area. They can also see where the ideal location for a renewable energy project would be.

Part two of the webinar will be presented by Tom Bruton, of BioXl, an energy consultancy with expertise in renewable energy. It will look at the key steps and considerations a community must take in the development of a renewable energy project, such as securing land rights, constraint mapping, planning assessments and submission, grid application submission, payment milestones, qualifying and tendering for auction, preparing legal structures and community investment proposals.

Gráinne Kennedy of independent energy agency 3cea (3 Counties Energy Agency) said that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation has experienced one of its busiest years on record in terms of the growing number of community groups that they are working with to reduce energy costs and cut down on harmful carbon emissions:

“What we have particularly noticed is a dramatic increase in community groups and organisations who are actively seeking information on how to undertake energy efficiency retrofits – be they community centres, sports clubs, parish committees, childcare centres, community health organisations such as organisations that provide accommodation and supports to the elderly, national schools …. the list is growing by the week.

“It’s a win-win situation for these groups and organisations. Through the SEAI Sustainable Energy Community programme that 3cea delivers, they’re supported with capital funding, partnerships and technical support on energy saving projects. And now, with the introduction of the government’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme, communities can set up their own solar farm or wind farm and sell that power to the national grid. Given that so many communities are taking an interest in their carbon footprint, the demand for information about community renewable energy projects has never been greater.”

To meet this demand, 3cea with the support of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership has organised a two-part online webinar aimed specifically at community groups in Kilkenny who are interested in developing a renewable energy project. The event takes place at 9.30am and 10.45am on Tuesday, June 22 through Zoom and community groups and representatives can register for this FREE online webinar at http://3cea.ie/event/

For more information on 3cea’s range of community programmes, visit: https://3cea.ie/sectors/community/

The Kilkenny Grid Study is available here for communities who wish to see the potential in their area for a renewable energy project.

To learn more about our community group projects, visit our communities page here.

Maribor Meeting

European Energy Agencies Gather in Maribor, Slovenia

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3cea CEO Paddy Phelan represented Ireland at the FEDARENE annual meetings held in Slovenia from the 14th – 16th of September 2021

The Slovenian city of Maribor was the location for the 2021 FEDARENE annual meetings, where energy agencies from across the continent gathered for events which ran over three days. The European wide event involved many energy agencies from countries including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.

Paddy Phelan, 3 Counties Energy Agency CEO, attended the annual meetings and represented Ireland. Paddy participated in an exchange of best practices and inspiring projects related to energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate planning during his time there. Presentations were made from energy agencies on the topics of collaboration with public bodies, engaging with citizen energy groups, implementing local energy strategies and smart villages.

During the 2021 FEDARENE General Assembly, the members elected fellow Irish man Seamus Hoyne as the Secretary General once again. Congratulations to Seamus, who is re-elected in the position for the next 3 years. The FEDARENE members have chosen to keep Seamus in the position, praising him for the good work he continues to achieve.

Take a look at the photo gallery from the event below.

To learn more about 3cea’s involvement with European projects, visit our Innovation Webpage here.

Irish SMEs Enter The STEPS Voucher 1

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Four Irish SMEs enter the STEPS Voucher 1 scheme, after being chosen from the second call of STEPS. Two of these have been chosen by 3cea who will act as the Business Support Partner, the other two will be assisted by Galway Energy Co-Op. The SMEs that 3cea will be assisting are Sunstream Energy based in Waterford and Crest Pro Power based in Sligo.

Crest Pro Power offers energy storage solutions for large businesses to enable them to store energy generated during low-tariff periods and use it at high-tariff times. This solution can be incorporated with a PV Solar system to store excess PV generation making it both cost-effective and more carbon-neutral than using solar PV alone. Crest Pro Power customers can benefit from revenue streams through demand response schemes where the customer can benefit from having the battery available to the Grid for fixed payments.

Sunstream Energy’s battery storage system comprises about 200 KWh (2 tonnes) capacity for the ice builder in combination with a 10 KWh Li-ion battery. Both storage mediums are charged using surplus solar PV energy taken in during the day. This excess energy is then used throughout the night when the refrigeration units would normally have to take from the grid.  The solar PV system, ice builder, refrigeration plant, and battery system hardware have found use in dairy farms with one already installed on a farm in Waterford. However, there are still further innovations to be made and knowledge gaps to fill and so Sunstream Energy hopes to build on their current product through the Interreg NWE STEPS programme.

As these Irish SMEs enter the STEPS Voucher 1, they will get the opportunity to fill these knowledge gaps. The first voucher support has the SMEs working with the STEPS knowledge partners across Europe to benefit from a plethora of experience and understanding around energy storage. Initially, all four Irish SMEs were working with the National University of Ireland Galway. Now, they will gain further expertise from a European Knowledge partner that’s specifically suited to their needs. These are TU Delft, Universiteit Twente, Universiteit Gent, The Faraday Institution, and NUIG.

After 6 months with their knowledge partner, one SME from 3cea’s cohort, and one SME from Galway Energy Co-Op’s cohort will continue in the STEPS business support programme and enter the Voucher 2 Support. This is the support that Tipperary-based Clean Tech are currently receiving. For Voucher 2 of the Second Call, the chosen SME in 3cea’s cohort will get the opportunity to test their energy storage solution in O’Shea’s farm. O’Shea’s Farm is a Kilkenny-based farm that provides fresh vegetable produce to supermarkets across the country, resulting in year-round electricity demand for refrigerated cold storage and grading equipment at their site. They currently have 250 KWp (Kilo-Watt potential) solar PVs installed on the farm which they are looking to extend. O’Shea’s Farm is hoping that an energy storage solution will allow them to store excess intake during the day, which can be stored as cold storage and used to power the refrigerators for the vegetables overnight. You can learn more about O’Shea’s farm and their involvement in the STEPS project from our STEPS Testbed Video

To learn more about STEPS and 3cea’s work in the Interreg NWE STEPS project see our dedicated STEPS webpage

ENERGee Watch Online Courses Begin

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This Wednesday, 15th of September, the ENERGee Watch Online Courses begin with Course 3 Indicators and Strategies on Adaptation to Climate Change. This is the first of four courses that will take place across the three cycles of the ENERGee Watch programme. The aims of the ENERGee WATCH peer-to-peer learning programme are to enable regional and local authorities to timely and accurately define, monitor, and verify their sustainable actions. The course material will focus on regional/provincial authorities and their agencies. These groups are responsible for collecting and monitoring GHG reduction efforts and results. The groups will be targeted to empower them to use best practices in their efforts. ENERGee Watch is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

The programme will take place across three cycles. Each cycle has the same four courses and tutors and will all contain a visit to the tutor’s country. However, the content of the courses may change each year based on the feedback from the previous group in the previous cycle. Through this, the course can adapt to the needs of regional/local authorities.

We expect, by the end of the ENERGee Watch peer learning programme, regional and local authorities will have improved abilities and skills to collect energy and climate data, monitor said data, verify it and then report the data for their sustainable energy action plans. We also hope that the peer-to-peer nature of the programme will foster future collaborations and partnerships.

Course 3: Indicators and Strategies on Adaptation to Climate Change

ENERGee Watch Online Courses begin with Course 3, which is dedicated to the adaptation to climate change initiatives and aims to clarify the concept, provide keys to understanding this discipline, and shed light on the methodologies, systems, and tools to support public actors in their climate change efforts. The aim of the exercise is to guide participants in building their own roadmap to ensure that adaptation to climate change is fully integrated into energy-climate action plans. To this end, the adaptation course will be organised into three sessions:

• Session 1: Setting the basics: climate change adaptation and assessment
• Session 2: Establishing the diagnosis: methods and data
• Session 3: Drawing up a strategy and action plan: methods and roles of indicators

Session 1 of this course took place Wednesday 16th.

Each of the 3-hour sessions will, in turn, be divided into two periods of the following:

Session 1: Setting the basics: climate change adaptation and assessment
– Period 1: The fundamentals of adaptation to climate change
– Period 2: The fundamentals of assessment for adaptation
Session 2: Diagnosis: methods and data
– Period 1: Drawing up the diagnosis
– Period 2: Tools associated with the diagnosis (representation, deliverable, sharing)
Session 3: Designing a strategy and an action plan: methods and roles of indicators
– Period 1: Strategy development
– Period 2: Practical exercise

Target of Course 3 Indicators and Strategies on Adaptation to Climate Change

The course is particularly aimed at territorial public actors responsible for energy-climate policies and the structures (e.g., local energy agency) supporting them in the deployment of these policies. The objective is to facilitate the inclusion of adaptation to climate change and the transition to action in order to face the current and future challenges for the territories.

Course objectives
In this course, mentees can achieve the following learning objectives:

  • Objective 1: To appropriate the concepts and notions associated with adaptation to climate change.
  • Objective 2: To understand the challenges in one’s territory, to understand the climate impacts and associated effects
  • Objective 3: To be able to prefigure an adaptation to climate change policy on its territory
  • Objective 4: To draw on the associated methods and tools, in particular, to assess the adaptation policies

Mentors

Sandra Garrigou (pictured left) has been assisting local authorities in drawing up their climate plans since 2008. Sandra has developed an expertise in the field of adaptation to climate change, particularly in the framework of a partnership agreement with ADEME (e.g. projects: organisation of territorial workshops to raise awareness among local authorities). She is also a doctoral student on this subject at the “Territories, cities, environment & society” research unit at the University of Lille.

Erwan Cordeau, is a senior expert in the field of adaptation to climate change, supports the design of the course. His work has focused on urban heat and on the development of territorial diagnosis in the field of adaptation.

Agnès Parnaix, is a senior expert in the field of public policy assessment, will contribute to the session dealing with evaluation, data processing, and the choice of indicators. Agnès has participated in the work on the assessment of regional planning.

To learn more about ENERGee Watch keep an eye on the News Section of our website as we release information for each course as they start. You can also see the Horizon2020 ENERGee Watch Website for information and updates

Register Now for an Information Session on Energy Grants and Supports

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Join us online on the 21st September from 1-2pm as we discuss funding opportunities for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. What makes a good grant application? Who is eligible for funding? What measures are supported? Our highly experienced senior energy expert Alex will provide helpful tips and what you need to do to be successful. She will be covering everything from preparing for your application to best practice advice!

Businesses, SMEs, Farmers, Tidy Towns Groups, Co-operatives, Community Groups, Schools, Sports Clubs, Public Sector, Housing Associations and other groups are urged to attend the free information webinar as it is expected that the SEAI grant scheme will receive a high level of interest.

Grants are available through SEAI, who provide up to 50% funding for community projects, not for profits, charities, housing associations. And up to 30% funding for businesses, public sector, SMEs, industrial & commercial sector.

Ask the Expert

3cea’s Energy Engineer & Expert Alex Hamilton will provide helpful tips on how to access the funding for your energy project and what you need to do to be successful. Alex will take you through the grant application process in detail, the criteria and timelines and how to maximise the return on your investment.

What’s involved?

This one-hour Zoom session will run on the 21st of September from 1pm-2pm and is open to everyone with an interest in sustainability and community energy but will be of particular relevance to organisations and community groups looking to progress their identified energy projects.

The SEAI’s Better Energy Communities programme will be soon open for grant applications and we are urging applicants to get in touch with us now for the upcoming funding call. In the south east region the SEAI grant application is administered by the 3 Counties Energy Agency www.3cea.ie.

This event is the first step for interested organisations and businesses to understand what it takes to apply for energy grant funding for your project and what supports are available to achieve such a project. This session will offer a chance for all attendee’s to

• Understand the SEAI Grant process and what’s involved

• Ask the expert to gather feedback

• Meet the 3cea team project managing your energy project

How to register?

REGISTER HERE

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

This event is the first step for interested organisations and businesses to understand what it takes to apply for energy grant funding for your project and what supports are available to achieve such a project.

What is SEAI’s Better Energy Communities Grant?

Better Energy Communities (BEC) is a national retrofit initiative managed by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). BEC offers a win-win grant aid solution for businesses, SMEs, parish halls, GAA clubs, hotels, farmers, charitable organisations, community groups, Tidy Towns Groups, public authorities, individuals and sports clubs to both lower their energy bills while reducing energy usage.

The SEAI’s Better Energy Communities programme will be soon open for grant applications and we are accepting applicants for the upcoming funding call. In the south east region the SEAI grant application process is administered by the 3 Counties Energy Agency www.3cea.ie.

How 3cea can help?

• 3cea team are well experience in writing successful grant applications that have tight deadlines and require a high level of technical information and paperwork.

• Our team of energy experts will help you manage the complex parts of the grant application and will be here to take your through the process from start to finish.

• Our mission is to act on your behalf to provide you with the resource, expertise and knowledge to help move your energy efficiency projects forward in the south east region.

• Our aim is to make energy efficiency improvements as simple as possible, to help you save money on energy bills and reduce carbon emissions. The quickest and most simplest way of reducing harmful emissions is investing in energy efficiency.

• Over the past 8 years, we’ve been successful in securing energy grant funding across all sectors. We have assisted in the delivery of cumulative energy savings of more than €19.6 million through the Communities Energy Grant (BEC) initiative.

For any further information contact Mari or Patrick at events@3cea.ie or 056 779 0856.

Get in contact with our team on https://3cea.ie/bec-contact/ or email us at bec@3cea.ie indicating your interest and we will be in touch.

Kilkenny Grid Study

Kilkenny Grid Study finds potential for renewable energy projects

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A recent study conducted by Mullan Grid Consulting, for 3cea with funding from Kilkenny Leader Partnership, highlights the electricity grid’s capacity for renewable energy projects in County Kilkenny.

We recently held an online information event for communities across County Kilkenny to learn of the potential for renewable energy in their area. With many substations located around the county, Kilkenny communities have access to connect to the grid. Renewable energy projects which may be suitable for local communities include wind farms and solar farms. Both developments would need to securely connect to the grid for sufficient use. This study was conducted to see what capacity is available in County Kilkenny prior to planning a renewable energy project in our local communities.

Community members were invited to attend the event where Rory Mullan of Mullan Grid described the key takeaways from the study and was on hand to answer any questions the attendees may have had. Following Rory’s presentation, our second speaker, Tom Bruton of  Bio XL, spoke of the legislation around renewable energy projects for community groups. Tom gave insights into the timelines and costs involved in such a development, while providing practical examples of other similar community projects.

The Kilkenny Grid Study is available here for communities who wish to see the potential in their area for a renewable energy project.

The event will be held again in the Autumn for communities in Kilkenny who could not make the first event. For those interested in joining this event, please get in touch with us at contact@3cea.ie.

To learn more about our community group projects, visit our communities page here.

Eddie's Home

Eddie’s home transformation features in The Sunday Times

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Eddie Brennan of Wexford Town upgraded his 1930s bungalow with 3cea in 2019. 

We were delighted to see Eddie’s home energy upgrade story featured in The Sunday Times over the weekend. The article was published by Arlene Harris, who met Eddie and his partner Mary, to gain their insights after achieving such a major home improvement project.

Eddie’s bungalow was in very poor condition prior to the renovation works, with a BER of G, the lowest rating on the BER scale. Eddie continues to describe the process of his project and outlines the different upgrade measures he installed in his new and improved home. You can visit The Sunday Times piece here to read the story in full.

For more information on Eddie’s upgrade project, visit our own interview here, where Eddie lists each of the measures he chose and how these installations transformed his home life.

Home Energy Upgrade Journey

Homeowner Journey

We at 3cea offer homeowners a One Stop Shop service. We will guide homeowners every step of the way, from our initial home assessment right through to the completion of the project. We are listed as a trusted, project coordinator to deliver SEAI‘s National Home Retrofit Scheme and we can apply on behalf of the homeowner for grant funding of up to 35%.

To learn more about starting your journey towards a warmer, comfortable home, visit our Home Energy Upgrade – One Stop Shop.

If you are interested in taking the first step on the journey, you can fill in this form with your home’s details and a member of our Housing Team will be in touch.

Communities

Glenmalure Rural Energy Group hosted Community Energy Events

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Glenmalure Rural Energy Group (GREG) hosted a series of online events for their community. The two-part community energy information event took place on Thursday 10th June and Thursday 17th June.

Part one of the event featured information in relation to home energy. This session provided the community with knowledge in the areas of insulation, heating your home and concluded with the current grants that are available to homeowners considering a home energy upgrade.

Part two of the series delved into the area of renewable energy, in particular the potential of renewable sources of energy such as biomass. Again, this information session outlined the grants that are available to pursue this green energy source.

As the events took place during Covid restrictions, both parts were online events. Each of the events featured videos from local Glenmalure residents who presented their own personal energy upgrade story. The local stories highlighted the benefits and challenges of upgrading the energy efficiency of their home, while also outlining why you should choose a renewable energy technology, such as Solar PV panels or Heat Pumps.

GREG organised a panel of experts for the events to discuss the grants that are available for homeowners and for the local community buildings. In particular, the Better Energy Community grant scheme was of great interest as they plan to upgrade their community buildings with energy efficient measures.

During the event, we at 3cea were delighted to participate and present the Glenmalure Energy Master Plan to the community. The Energy Master Plan takes in the surrounding areas of Glenmalure, Ballinaclash and Greenan, and it outlines the current energy standard and potential for the community.  The Energy Master Plan was conducted in collaboration with Wicklow County Council and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) through the Sustainable Energy Communities (SEC) Programme. The community residents were encouraged to learn from the Energy Master Plan and to consider future energy upgrade works going forward.

The GREG community group have a recording of the event which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/UUVOEz5bQDg

For more information about our work, visit our Communities web page here.

Communities putting shoulder to wheel with renewable energy projects

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More communities than ever before are coming together to develop renewable energy projects in their own localities, according to a Kilkenny-based energy engineer.

Gráinne Kennedy of independent energy agency 3cea (3 Counties Energy Agency) said that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation has experienced one of its busiest years on record in terms of the growing number of community groups that they are working with to reduce their energy costs and cut down on harmful carbon emissions:

“What we have particularly noticed in recent years is a dramatic increase in community groups and organisations who are actively seeking information on how to undertake energy efficiency retrofits – be they community centres, sports clubs, parish committees, childcare centres, community health organisations such as organisations that provide accommodation and supports to the elderly, national schools …. the list is growing by the week.

“It’s a win-win situation for these groups and organisations. Through the SEAI Sustainable Energy Community programme that 3cea delivers, they’re supported with capital funding, partnerships and technical support on energy saving projects. And now with the introduction of the government’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme, communities can set up their own solar farm or wind farm and sell that power to the national grid. Given that so many communities are taking an interest in their carbon footprint, the demand for information about community renewable energy projects has never been greater.”

To meet this demand, 3cea with the support of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership has organised a two-part online webinar aimed specifically at community groups in Kilkenny who are interested in developing a renewable energy project. The event takes place at 9.30am and 10.45am on Tuesday, 22nd June through Zoom and community groups and representatives can register for this FREE online webinar at http://bit.ly/KilkennyGridStudy.

The first session, hosted by Rory Mullan of electrical engineering consultancy Mullan Grid Consulting, will discuss the findings of a recent grid study carried out in the Kilkenny area. All energy produced by a renewable energy project must be transported via the grid to homes and businesses across the country. For a community renewable energy project to be feasible there must be capacity available in the grid to take the energy produced. This session will help attendees to identify if there is an opportunity to connect to the grid in their area. They can also see where the ideal location for a renewable energy project would be.

Part two of the webinar will be presented by Tom Bruton, of BioXl, an energy consultancy with expertise in renewable energy. It will look at the key steps and considerations a community must take in the development of a renewable energy project, such as securing land rights, constraint mapping, planning assessments and submission, grid application submission, payment milestones, qualifying and tendering for auction, preparing legal structures and community investment proposals.

* For any queries on this event, please contact Mari or Patrick on events@3cea.ie

For more information on 3cea’s range of community programmes, visit our Community page here.

Energee Watch Training Begins June 11th

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Energee Watch is a network of organisations that exchange on the collection, monitoring, and dissemination of climate and energy data at the local and regional levels. The project builds on the Covenant of Mayors SECAP guidelines and was set up to assist cities and regions with implementing, monitoring, and verifying sustainable policies and climate action. Energee Watch Training begins June 11th for those that have registered for the first cycle. Registration for the first cycle is unfortunately closed.

When working towards targets such as the Horizon 2020 targets, policies are ordinarily set at the national level and Monitoring & Verification (M&V) is often not possible. This is because Local Authorities have varying levels of skills and abilities in planning, implicating, and monitoring. As a result, the European effort is a disjointed one with local restrictions impeding progress. Energee Watch (Funded by Horizon 2020) looks to overcome these issues. It is a peer-to-peer learning programme for cities and regions to timely and actively define, monitor, and verify sustainable energy and climate action. Energee Watch brings on several experienced regional energy agencies, a European network of cities, a not-for-profit- research organisation, and a university.

The main goals of Energee Watch are:

  • Share experiences and best practices in data collection, monitoring, verification, and dissemination of energy and climate data amongst GHG monitoring organizations, local and regional authorities​.
  • Build capacity of regional authorities in monitoring and verification practices for adaptation and mitigation actions​
  • Peer-to-peer learning programme and improve the replicability and comparability of measurement and verification practices

Peer-to-Peer Learning

The main outputs of Energee Watch revolve around its Training Courses, the first of which starts on June 11th for the Masterclass. Each year for the next three years there will be 4 courses, each course having its own expert mentor. Organisations have been asked to apply to receive this training, with only one person from each organisation allowed to join each course. The mentees for the first round of courses have already been selected but there will be an opportunity to join future rounds in the next two years. Each year, feedback will be taken from the mentees for monitoring and to improve the peer learning programme. The monitoring is to identify knowledge gaps and to ensure the learning programme is reaching its target. It also assists mentees with future replication of the training in their region’s own SECAP.

The first cycle Energee Watch training begins June 11th  and will be online-only run through the Veri online Platform. The four courses on this cycle are:

  • Course 1: Data collection (acquisition and treatment) – Mentored by Energy agency of Savinjska, Šaleška and Koroška region (KSSENA)
  • Course 2: Monitoring, reporting, verification: follow up on the implementation of actions – Mentored by Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA)
  • Course 3: Indicators and strategies on adaptation to climate change – Mentored by Regional energy agency of the Ile de France (IPR)
  • Course 4: Data display, dissemination, and validation by local authorities – Mentored by Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Energie Environnement (AURA-EE)

During this time, 3cea will be acting as the administrator for the online platform. This platform is only available to those partaking in Energee Watch.

Applications to the second cycle should open in late 2021/early 2022. Keep an eye on the 3cea website and social media for this. You can also sign up for our Newsletter here which will keep you up to date on Energee Watch and more. For more information on the Energee Watch project, see our dedicated website page.