This page is a schedule and overview of the Open Space sessions proposed for the Summer Conference on 18 June. It brings together the various discussion topics that attendees have submitted to be explored during the Open Space part of the event.
If anyone who is attending the conference would like to lead their own discussion or add a new topic, they are invited to submit an idea via a linked Google Form here.
Schools: Ensuring schools benefit from community energy and what can Government and Local Authorities do to facilitate this?
3 Canopy
Zach Wishart, Energy4All
Batteries and added value: Where can community energy groups add the most value in the battery-storage market, and how can they build financially sustainable projects around that role?
4 Canopy
Kevin Oubridge, Shropshire Climate Action
Community buildings, batteries and flexibility: Can community buildings such as village halls earn income and support the transition to a smarter energy system by providing battery storage and grid flexibility services?
5 Canopy
Neil Farrington, Celtic Sea Power
Community ownership of offshore wind: Can community energy scale up to meet investment costs for offshore wind? Can a collaborative regional approach work and what could this look like for the SW and South Wales?
1 Gatehouse
Faith Terry-Doyle (CEE) and Johannes Moeller (Ashden)
Energy Learning Network: Co-create a UK-wide community energy training and learning offer with the ELN
2 Gatehouse
Beate Pesian, Community Energy Birmingham
Lessons from projects involving community investment: Sharing lessons from existing community energy projects – especially those involving community investment – by highlighting what approaches have been successful and what challenges or mistakes should be avoided.
3 Gatehouse
Ben Sharpe and Chris Butler, Ethex
Industry Collaboration: How different industry partners can collaborate – by sharing expertise and improving areas like procurement, technology choices, energy purchase agreements, and funding – to make community energy projects financially viable and easier to deliver.
4 Gatehouse
Alex Jones, Bath and West Community Energy
Cyber Security: Operations in Community Energy
5 Gatehouse
Kirsty Shanahan, Community Energy Pathways
Councils: How do we make community energy groups the obvious partners for Councils?
6 Gatehouse
Peter Eckley, Eckley Consulting
Community batteries with time of use tariffs: Viable models and hurdles
7 Gatehouse
Michael Hamilton, Salix Finance
Getting the public on the side of clean, community energy: how to promote the benefits of community and continuous clean energy.
1 Al Fresco
Oliver Thomas, City of Wolverhampton council
Urbanisation of Community Energy: how do we address the technical and non-technical barriers for integrating smart distributed community energy systems into the urban environment where land is at a premium?
2 Al Fresco
Jon Halle, Big Solar Coop
Second life solar: Repurposing second hand solar panels: carbon, ethics, theory and practice
3 Al Fresco
Graham Mitchell, Adalta Energy
Identifying who can benefit from the Grain LNG local energy opportunity: How community energy projects could take part in local energy matching to increase revenues, secure long-term income streams, and support a scalable model for community energy growth.
4 Al Fresco
Lola Karpf, CPRE
Large-scale “mega” solar farms: Could they undermine public support for community energy and the net zero transition in rural areas, and how community energy can still be scaled up in a way that includes local people, builds trust, and ensures communities benefit rather than feel excluded.
Session 2
Room and Table
Convenor
Topic
1 Canopy
Simon Crowe, Low Carbon Alliance
What support do community energy groups need: Identify the real needs for CE I.e is it funding? If so at what stage. Is it funding projects? Is it planning? Is it technical understanding?
2 Canopy
Mike Blanch, Westmill Wind and WeSET
Community Wind: Should I consider a community led wind project?
3 Canopy
Matt Brown, Brighton Energy Co-op
Batteries and Grid Services: Can grid services work for CE groups and make batteries a financially viable option?
4 Canopy
Ahmad Aldaker, Scene Connect
How to take community energy mainstream: Knowledge and confidence gap is the biggest constraint to community energy groups succeeding
5 Canopy
Neil Farrington, Celtic Sea Power
Offshore Wind: Can the community energy sector take a meaningful stake in offshore wind?
1 Gatehouse
Martin Heath
Local Area Energy Plans: Getting community led LAEPs
2 Gatehouse
Nigel Lloyd, SEBrum (South-East Birmingham Energy Local Co-op)
Changing the P441 regulation: Ensuring large, complex sites (like thousands of rooftop solar installations) are not treated as fully “estimated” when just one small generation meter is faulty, because the current rule can unfairly trigger penalties even when only a tiny fraction of total generation data is affected.
3 Gatehouse
Ethex
Community Energy Partners
4 Gatehouse
Katrin Harding, Wokingham Energy Collective
What’s the “right” scale for Community Energy groups/incorporated entities: How do we balance the grassroots magic while supporting good governance, professionalism and efficiency?
5 Gatehouse
Lizzie Stygall, SY Ecofit CIC, Sheffield Energy Works
Virtual Power Plants: Using a community ownership model
6 Gatehouse
Krishma Wong, Harborough Community Energy (HCE)
From Niche to Normal: Reframing Community Energy’s Public Image
