We were delighted to see several of our clients, past and present, being recognised at the Community Energy Awards in Salford earlier this month.
The event, which took place at the Lowry Centre on November 17th, is an annual opportunity to celebrate the achievements and development of the community energy sector. It was hosted by Community Energy England, with keynote speeches by Jonathan Atkinson of Carbon Co-op and Cllr Kevin Frea, director of Halton Lune Hydro and Climate Emergency UK.
The big winner of the night was Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), who were declared Large Community Energy Organisation of the year, won the Climate and Environmental Impact award and won a ‘highly commended’ award for Fuel Poverty Action. We’ve worked with and for CAfS on several projects over the years, most recently on scoping solar opportunities in Keswick and Wigton.
Rossendale Valley Energy won the 2023 Advancing Innovation award for their Net Zero Terrace Street project. We’re proud to be working with them on supporting the generation element to this project with both rooftop and ground-mounted solar. Derbyshire Dales Community Energy, with whom worked initially on an RCEF-funded solar project and now with the Big Solar Co-op, were named Small/Medium Community Energy Organisation of the Year.
We were proud to see some of the organisations we helped to set up (some of them quite a long time ago!) making good too: Egni Co-op and Grimsby Community Energy were both Highly Commended in the Large and Small Community Energy Organisation categories respectively. Dorset Community Energy saw its founder Pete West named Community Energy Champion of the Year.
You can read the full list of award winners on the Community Energy England website.
The afternoon had seen the Community Energy England Autumn Forum take place elsewhere in the Lowry. One focussed sessions was held on the imminently launching Community Energy Fund, at which Sharenergy’s Dave Green sat on the panel, and another on strategising around the general election that is likely to happen next year.
