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Transition Towns Forum » TransitionGroup: Energy

1. sinergyinaction
   Member

   Hi
   I am looking for stories about groups that have set up their own energy cooperatives.
   How did that work? How do you start one up?

   Thanks
   Antonio

   Posted 6 months ago #

2. benbrangwyn
   

   Antonio,

   It would be really helpful if you mentioned any research you've already done on subject - looking at the Transition Initiatives' website or just standard web surfing.

   A quick intro to yourself and your initiative would be helpful as well - people would be interested to know that you're from Barcelona and setting up a transition initiative there.

   Without that information, people might wonder whether you were actually involved in transition and perhaps just hoping that someone would do your research for you.

   I know that's not the case, but others might not.

   Cheers. Ben.

   Posted 6 months ago #

3. sinergyinaction
   Member

   Hi Ben
   many thanks for your inputs and suggestions.

   Well, as Ben has anticipated I am part of a local transition hub in Barcelona, Spain
   and I am also part of the Iberian permaculture network.
   We've been setting this hub up since last march, and are currently building our group capacity to act as one, catalizing initiatives in Barcelona's "barrios".

   To be honest I haven't had the time to do much research on the subject so far,
   but was hoping to get pointers about existing projects so I could do a "guided" exploration. Most of the URLs that I have found so far in the internet are about quite big energy enterprises, saying that are producing green energy. Some of them are run as a cooperative, but are still part of the private sector, selling the generated energy to obtain an economic benefit, plus a number of other pretended "side effects".
   I also quickly searched the TN wiki but could not find evidence (without further work)
   of pointers of interest, but it may just mean thatI have to invest more time.

   What I am actually looking at, is finding info about groups of people that have come together to provide for their own electricity, not really cooperative enterprises selling green power to the market for their own profit.

   So, it would be great if people that have already had a chance to participate in one
   want to share their experience.
   My goal is to learn about what it takes to set up one, and see if I can replicate the experience here in Barcelona or at least help local TIs to do the same when needed.
   By the way, I am especially interested in cooperatives that produce from solar sources and small wind generators, which I guess are most viable in a maritime, big, mediterranean seatowns, like Barcelona.
   But I guess some of the details of creating one from scratch are indipendent from the energy source and the technology used.
   All the best
   Antonio

   PS: Ben, I'd like to communicate with you privately if that is possible, thanks

   Posted 6 months ago #

4. Sandy Abrahams
   Member

   Antonio

   I am a member of Belsize Transition Town in London. We are in the early stages of setting up a Community Energy Company that will focus on solar PV/ thermal hot water panels. Residents in the area will have an opportunity to 'invest' in the scheme by providing up front capital and roof space, in return for hot water supplies and a guaranteed return on energy supplied back to the grid (through the Feed In Tariff Scheme just due to be launched in England in April).

   I also am keen to hear from other Transition Towns who have successfully set up such schemes. I am aware of:

   - Merseyside
   - Cambridge
   - Maidenhead
   - Ovesco
   - Totnes

   I am currently in the process of trying to make as many links/contacts as possible to learn of any best practice/ pitfalls to avoid/successful funding initiatives and so on.

   Please do get in contact with me if you can share any information. A shared pool of information on setting up local community energy schemes/ companies would be very useful I think (perhaps this is out there and I have yet to find it!)

   Thanks

   Sandy Abrahams
   S.abrahams@nabarro.com
   07734959653

   Posted 6 months ago #

5. sinergyinaction
   Member

   Hi Sandy
   many thanks for you reply.
   As I said, right now unfortunately I have very little practical info I can share, since I am just starting to look into this subject.
   Can you tell me more about your approach to this? Do you have a web page?

   One thing we don't yet have here in Spain is a good Feed In Tariff Scheme. Actually our national government has recently lowered the amount they pay to the producers that feed their energy to the grid.
   All the best
   Antonio

   Posted 6 months ago #

6. cindy
   Member

   Hi Antonio (and Sandy and Ben)

   We have just launched our co-op, you can see the website at www.smartenergy.coop , plus I'm updating it over the Easter weekend with more detailed information.

   Take a look around and contact us (details on the website) if you have any questions.

   best wishes
   Cindy

   TT Maidenhead

   Posted 5 months ago #

7. sinergyinaction
   Member

   Dear Cindy
   many thanks for your input!
   It looks as if one of the key points here is securing a way to finance
   such an endeavour from the very start. I can see from your website that you are linked with a financial institution. Is this a bank (an ordinary bank I mean, unlike Triodos and such ethical banking institutions)?
   How is this economical feature working beteween the parts (service provider and end users)?

   What if a group of users just want to set up a cooperative not for selling solar services to third parties but just to provide the service to themselves. Is there a minimum number of people that makes the whole thing more fianancially viable?
   All the best
   Antonio

   Posted 4 months ago #

8. ShaunChamberlin
   Shaun Chamberlin

   Community Renewable Energy Grants:
   http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2010-04-24/community-renewable-energy-grants

   Thought this might be relevant.

   Posted 4 months ago #

9. uniter
   Member

   I was browsing around the forum and got to this thread , its feels great when People are sharing information with eachother so that others can learn. Keep this going ever.

   Posted 3 months ago #

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