1

Welcome to the Growing Community

Energy webinar

Agenda

· Background to Growing Community Energy

· Designing your grant project

- Grant eligibility and assessment criteria

· Application process

· Further information and contacts

Background to Growing Community Energy

Growing Community Energy in NSW

· NSW Government is strongly committed to supporting community energy

· Facilitate community ownership of renewable energy projects

(Renewable Energy Action Plan, Action 12)

Grant program objectives

· Help to grow the community energy sector

· Provide access to funding for community energy projects to progress through the early project stages

· Support strong models of community energy

· Foster partnerships between communities, businesses, and councils

Grant program design

· Informed by a strategic review from the Institute of Sustainable Futures

· Input from 2013 grantees

· Feedback from community energy stakeholders

Key information

· $700K funding is available for early stage projects

· Each grant $5K -$50K

· Projects up to $70K may be considered for innovative business models

· Projects must demonstrate community leadership and benefits

· Partnerships are encouraged

· Contact with your Regional Coordinator essential

Designing your grant project

> Grant eligibility

Who can apply for funding?

· Community Groups

· Local Government

· Businesses

· Schools and Charities

· Important: projects must be community driven

· Your organisation or your partner organisation must be incorporated

Types of eligible projects

· Located in NSW

· Projects that include community engagement and ownership will rank highly

· Contact with the Regional Coordinator essential

· Contact with your local council encouraged

· Community must benefit from the final project outcome.

How to define community benefit and leadership

· Benefits must flow from this project to the broader community

· The community must lead the project

· Benefits are normally monetary and derived from community ownership

· You need to demonstrate how the community leads the project

What OEH will fund

· Community renewable energy and/or energy efficiency projects

· Projects must be in the development phase

· Projects that involve the community in the process of development of a project

· Projects that have the potential to deliver tangible outcomes to the community

What will not be funded

· Capital expenditure

· We don’t fund resource mapping i.e. wind or solar

· Duplication of existing information, such as templates for existing business models

· Projects without community dimension

· Projects that won’t result in a viable stand-alone community energy business model

· Financially unviable business models

Community energy implementation stages

Ison and Hicks (2014)

Eligible technologies

· May use any commercially available and proven technologies

· For bio-energy projects please provide extra details (overview of the technology)

· Generation must be more than 70kW

· Integrating RE and EE is encouraged

Designing your grant project

> Assessment criteria

Assessment criteria

· Relevance and appropriateness of grant project and business model

· Technical feasibility of grant project and business model

· Capacity to deliver the grant project

· Value for money of the grant project

· Financing arrangements for the business model

· Community engagement and ownership

Local government involvement

· Councils are encouraged to support and partner with community groups

· Committees of council are not considered community groups

· Council facilities may be a host site for projects

· Any projects with councils as a partner need to demonstrate community leadership and community benefit of the project

Business involvement

· We welcome business involvement

· Projects must demonstrate community benefits and be driven by the community

· E.g. REPower Shoalhaven and the Shoalhaven Heads Bowling Club

· Great opportunities to include energy efficiency to increase your project’s viability

Community engagement

· Demonstrate how you will engage with your broader community

· We will prioritise projects that benefit low income communities

· Many ways to involve low income communities

· You may consider partnering with a social housing provider

Application process

· Consult with your Regional Coordinator early

· Applications must be a Word document emailed to clean.energy@environment.nsw.gov.au

· Include any letters of support

· Closing date is Monday 12.00pm 15 December, 2014

Growing Community Energy timeline

· Applications due 15 December 2014

· Applications will be reviewed by a panel

· Funding agreements will be developed by

30 March 2015

· One year grant project delivery -

April 2015 to March 2016

· Final report lodged by 30 April 2016

Further information and contacts

OEH

· Contact your Regional Coordinator: Guidelines p.10

· OEH Community Energy – Library & Tools

http://environment.nsw.gov.au/communities/clean-energy-tools.htm

Ison & Hicks (2004) Community owned renewable energy: A How To Guide, commissioned by OEH, Community Power Agency.

Clean Energy Council’s Guide to Installing Solar PV for Businesses in NSW

· Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Finance Guide -

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/business/project-financing.htm

Further information and contacts

Other Sources

· Embark wiki - www.embark.com.au

· Community Renewable Energy in Scotland - www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources/19185/Communities

· UK Government Community Energy Guidance - www.gov.uk/community-energy