About Us

Our work

Community Energy Wales is a not for profit membership organisation that provides assistance and a voice to community groups working on energy projects in Wales. We want to help create the conditions in Wales that allow community energy projects to flourish, and communities to prosper.

Our vision: people should be at the heart of the energy system.

Our mission: To support and accelerate the transition to a fair, low carbon and community-led energy system.

Benefits can flow to communities from the development of community energy projects – but as an increasing number of community organisations are discovering, the journey from an initial idea to the realisation of a project can be fraught with frustration and delay. Community Energy Wales supports groups to develop projects by:

• Fforwm Datblygu / Development Forum - a quarterly online forum where community energy groups can pool their experience and new groups can learn from established wisdom.
• Gathering evidence about where the stumbling blocks or barriers that delay or prevent schemes from going ahead – be this access to the right kind of funding at the right time, regulation, planning and licencing issues or grid connectivity
• Campaigning on behalf of the sector and influencing the formation of energy policy in Wales in support of delivering clear community energy targets. If your community group or organisation supports these aims – please join us today.
• If you are an individual who wants to be an active supporter of community energy, you can join out RhanNi network here.

Who We Are

Community Energy Wales was constituted in 2012. Our management board draws from professionals working in the community energy sector. The organisation belongs to its members, who elect the board at our annual general meeting.

Community Energy Wales receives funding from a number of sources including the Welsh Government, the National Lottery, membership fees, consultancy fees, sponsorship and from energy assets, eg our own 900kW wind turbine was built in August 2017, we hope that this will provide a sustainable income for CEW to support the sustainability of our organisation.

We have a core staff team of six people working in full and part time roles.

Our Articles of Association are here Memorandum and Articles.

What we do

Community Energy Wales brings together a programme of practical support to inspire communities to take action. We provide educational support to empower people in communities to develop energy schemes in accordance with their needs. We provide financial advice and support to help implement the schemes sustainably over a long-term period. We work to influence the necessary people and policies to make these schemes a success. We learn through doing - our members share their experiences with others.

We work in partnership with others to deliver assistance and networking opportunities to community energy groups in Wales.

We are in the process of establishing a lottery funded electric vehicles car clubs network with charge up points.

We produce an annual State of the Sector report.

What have we achieved?

• We successfully worked alongside our members and partners to lobby the Welsh Government to provide business rate relief for community owned hydro’s which suffered huge rate rises last year.
• We are working in partnership with a large wind developer to develop the first large scale shared ownership project of its kind in Wales. We are exploring further opportunities in this area.
• Secured funding to trial the Energy Local model being delivered in Bethesda to another 15 communities in Wales.
• Secured funding for just over 2 years from Welsh Government to increase the support and develop further opportunities for Community Energy through Welsh Governments Local Energy and shared ownership agenda.
• Ran a series of knowledge sharing events inviting Local Authorities and members of civil society to come and visit a community energy project and learn about the impacts of these and other projects.

What we don’t do:

We cannot give direct advice for setting up a community energy project, however we do work with people who can give such advice and can signpost you in their direction.