Saul Griffith to kick off community energy event

The Coalition for Community Energy (C4CE) will be holding a Community Energy Congress from 6–7 March at the International Convention Centre in Sydney. The event will bring together leaders from communities, government, infrastructure companies and business to discuss community participation in the energy system.

With community energy projects, communities are directly involved in developing, producing, distributing, selling and buying energy assets and their output. Projects can take various ownership forms, including full community control or collaborating with public and private enterprises.

Community energy can encompass household electrification and efficiency programs, small-scale cooperatively owned solar PV installations, a community energy retailer, bioenergy or hydro systems, or a large-scale, community-owned wind farm. They are volunteer-run and help support the local community.

Last year, 55 community energy groups raised $74.5m for energy infrastructure, with another $6m in value from in-kind support and volunteer hours.

“We’d like to see consistent support from governments to grow this workhorse of the energy transition. Homes, businesses and whole communities won’t transition to renewable energy without trusted, independent and custom advice and help,” said C4CE Chair Heather Smith.

Topics that will be discussed at the congress include community batteries and microgrids, finance, partnerships and energy resilience. Rewiring Australia founder Saul Griffith will deliver the keynote speech.

The theme for this year’s congress is “Fast, Fair, and Vital”, highlighting the speed of transition, the values and outcomes that communities want in the energy transition, and the vital nature of energy to everyday lives and businesses.

Tickets for the Community Energy Congress are available now via Humanitix. The congress is being held on the sidelines of the Smart Energy Expo, so attendees also need to register for the expo to enter the event.

Attendees can also take part in the congress virtually thanks to support from the Victorian Government.

Image credit: iStock.com/SolStock