JTP Groundwork: Enabling renewable energy communities in JTF regions from the bottom up

Enabling community-owned renewable energy projects

The region’s counties, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Roscommon, Westmeath and Tipperary, are particularly affected by the shutdown of peat-fired electricity generation in Ireland. Local leaders are keen to leverage the full suite of Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) tools to establish new REC projects designed to channel benefits back into the community.

Despite an enabling EU regulatory framework for energy communities and a large number of community-based organisations invested in exploring how to implement REC projects, community leaders identified key knowledge gaps inhibiting implementation.

The JTP Groundwork technical assistance tool built capacity for project implementation by providing information on specific ownership models aligned with Irish law, identifying national regulatory inhibitors, and highlighting EU and Irish REC financing opportunities. It also showcased EU best practices for ownership models, overcoming barriers and leveraging EU financing.

Training local energy leaders on managing and developing REC projects The capacity building workshop served two purposes: to train local leaders on how to manage energy community projects, and to highlight the knowledge gathered and tools developed and made available via the JTP Groundwork technical assistance.

The event brought together approximately 30 local energy community leaders and mentors, local authorities, the regional authority, and members of the national just transition commission.

The first day of the workshop was dedicated to hands-on training on specific good practices for managing energy community projects, covering:

• governance models and project management of energy communities;
• business monitoring and setting up project business plans;
• financial monitoring of energy community projects;
• case studies from Friendly Power (Italy) and ENERCOOP (Spain)

The second day of the workshop focused on presenting the key outputs of the JTP Groundwork technical assistance and good REC examples from around the EU, including:

• a mapping of potential ownership models for Irish renewable energy projects;
• two case studies highlighting community ownership models, one on the Fintry Development Trust (Scotland) and one on GOED (Netherlands);
• an overview of key Irish regulatory inhibitors and good practices for addressing these inhibitors from other EU Member States, namely Denmark and the Netherlands;
• a funding guide mapping of EU and Irish funding opportunities for Irish REC projects;
• specific examples of funding mechanisms for energy communities, one from the EU-funded Sun4all project (Italy) and additional information on the Public Sector Loan Facility (the third pillar of the JTM).

Moving forward with new resources and knowledge This workshop was the first event of its kind in the Midlands region. Overall, it served to:

• equip local community leaders with knowledge and expertise on managing RECs, different renewable energy community ownership models, funding options, and regulatory good practices;  
• provide key Irish and EU contacts for energy leaders to connect with for next steps in project development. 

With the material produced during the technical assistance as well as the workshop, local community leaders now have useful resources and connections to enable them to take the next steps to bring REC projects that benefit the region to fruition.

To learn more about JTP Groundwork and the outputs produced during this technical assistance, visit our website. If you are interested in receiving support, subscribe to our newsletter for news on the next call for expressions of interest in 2025.