Michael, Erland, Andrew and Xavier from Blue Mtns Renewable Energy Co-op were lucky enough to attend the sell-out Community Energy Congress in Canberra last month. They joined over 300 people from community energy groups around the country, as well as renewable energy companies and policy-makers from all levels of government, to collaborate and grow a vibrant community energy sector in Australia.
It was a chance to meet many smart and passionate people involved in dozens of community energy projects. The team found there are many other groups hitting similar hurdles to us in the early stages of their projects, and were excited to learn about new models, partnerships and other ideas that can help realise the enormous potential of a more localised and democratic way of generating energy.
The NSW Office of Environment & Heritage’s Clean Energy Program helped to sponsor our trip and many other groups from around the state – a big thanks to OEH!
Check out the Coalition for Community Energy website for more info – they’ve even set up a blog with photos and all the speaker’s presentations available for download.