The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has announced a €30 million programme in grant supports for community energy projects next year. This represents a 50% increase in funding from the 2016 grant levels.
SEAI’s Better Energy Communities programme supports new approaches to achieving high quality improvements in energy efficiency. The programme focusses on improving the energy efficiency of Ireland’s building stock and supporting the use of renewable energy. It helps communities complete energy improvements in a more efficient and cost effective way by clustering buildings under one umbrella project.
Over the past five years SEAI has provided €85 million support to 300 community energy efficiency projects. As a result, €170 million has been invested in energy efficiency upgrades of over 15,000 homes and hundreds of community, private and public buildings, supporting several hundred jobs each year.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.