'Community energy has a very different spirit and culture to it' 🔆 This interview with Energise South is a great intro to community energy www.energisesussexcoast.co.uk/we-can-use-t...

Just a reminder that applications close on MONDAY for the role of Westmill Energy Chief Executive Officer. You could help drive forward two pioneering renewable energy co-ops (covering solar and wind) at this exciting time for community energy. Head to energy4all.co.uk/job-vacancies/ to apply.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! 2025 was a record year for wind and solar in the UK, with wind the biggest single renewable source of electricity and solar jumping by nearly a third. We need to do a lot more, and quickly, to meet 2030 targets - but let's start the year on a positive!

That's it for our anniversary posts... Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and see you in 2026! 🎁

Last one! Edinburgh Solar is 10 years old🎉 ECSC was one of the first community energy groups to demonstrate the mutual benefits of working in partnership with the local council. Today, the co-op operates 30 solar PV installations across the city, from schools to leisure and community centres.

RainePower is a community-owned 35 kW Archimedes screw hydro project in south east Cumbria. This project faced lower than expected generation during its first five years. The project has endured thanks to a committed team, including volunteers who maintain the site almost daily.

The Schools' Energy Co-op celebrated their 10-year anniversary roughly the same time as their 100th solar PV installation 🔆 SEC are experts when it comes to rooftop solar on schools, and they partner with other community energy groups to lend expertise and get projects going.

Next up is High Winds www.highwinds.coop who, 10 years and 11.5 MW on, have widened their community fund remit to tackle more local issues: most recently awarding a significant grant to help open a new community hub in Ulverston, following 9 other local spaces shutting down. Great stuff!

Rumbling Bridge Community Hydro in rural Kinross-shire is rated at 500 kW, but local geography sees it generate power equivalent to much larger schemes 💪 They are now actively looking to the future, e.g. whether changing energy policy could open opportunities for the society to trade energy locally.

Happy 10 year anniversary to Four Winds Co-op. FW owns two 500 kW wind turbines on former colliery sites on either side of Sheffield. The turbines generated around £80,000 for their community fund in 2024–25, supporting vital local organisations like hospices and food banks.

Exciting opportunity with @westmillenergy.bsky.social who are looking for a Chief Executive Officer. Help grow the community energy movement with 2 pioneering renewable energy co-ops. See energy4all.co.uk/job-vacancies for all the details!

6 renewable energy co-ops have hit their 10-year anniversary this year, so in the build up to Christmas we'll be sharing what they're up to now.

A new 127 kW installation is underway on St John's Market in Scunthorpe, thanks to @nlce2024.bsky.social ☀️(or maybe 🌧️ today). That brings them to 5 installations for 2025 - a busy year!

Something new! 📍 We have always mapped our member co-ops (currently 35) but now we have gone a step further and added each of their individual solar, wind, hydropower and biomass sites - and the picture is very different. Have a look: energy4all.co.uk/coops-map/

Last week John (our wind, hydro and solar Asset Manager) was at @westmillenergy.bsky.social looking at shading and controlling vegetation around the solar panels and equipment. Not a big issue as the sheep were already doing a great job. 👍 🌱

Are you a young person passionate about community, collaboration and creating change? 🌍 Join our Community Calls - a monthly online meet-up bringing together young people from across the UK who share co-operative values. 📣 1/3

Off-grid on Fridays 🍃 a tiny bit of positive news for the weekend.

Our quarterly newsletter went out this week. If you want to hear when new share offers are live, plus community energy news, you can join here: energy4all.co.uk/register/

Orkney Council has confirmed all profits from its new wind farm will go into local services - wealth will circulate locally, not flow to distant shareholders. It's a glimpse of what community benefit from renewables can look like. But how typical is this? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

New blog post up! Last week we were in Brussels for the final ACCE project event, unlocking finance for community energy projects across Europe. Find out more here: energy4all.co.uk/community-en... @rescoop.eu #communityenergy #localenergy #iyc2025

Going off-grid on Friday's: something non-energy related to brighten the day 🔆

Why don’t all schools in the UK already have solar panels?: energy4all.co.uk/why-dont-all...

It's useful to check-in every now and then with what community energy & being a co-op means in practice, so here's Energy4All's development model...

Love seeing the old footage of Westmill against the new - these co-ops continue to set a brilliant example for what community energy can achieve. We need more community projects of scale in the coming years.

We were sad to learn of the passing of Anthony Woolhouse last week. Anthony founded the 2.4 MW community-owned West Solent Solar Farm near Lymington in Hampshire, one of the first of its kind in the UK and a fantastic legacy. energy4all.co.uk/tribute-to-a...

NEW: UK electricity generation was over 50% renewable in 2024 for the first time, with fossil fuels falling to under a third (31.8%), also for the first time assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6889ec...

Nice spotlight on @edinsolarcoop.bsky.social and the collaboration involved to get solar PV installed across the city: youtu.be/NDTHxtKkiTY?...

Westmill's community fund is now live! If you live within a 25-mile radius of the site in Watchfield (Oxfordshire) and you have an environmental project in mind, have a look at their website for more info 👉

In other news: this week we saw a new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report confirming most Britons think government should do more to tackle climate change, and we saw a further £10m committed by GB Energy to put solar on community rooftops in 2025/6. Despite political stunts, the direction is clear🍃

If you live in or near Oxfordshire check out this free tour of Westmill Wind Farm and Solar Park this weekend. Shows the ambition of community energy.

Great to see @westmillenergy.bsky.social being used as an example of good practice for onshore wind 👉

The onshore wind strategy has been released by DESNZ. For those in community energy, actions 16-19 are of most relevance: www.gov.uk/government/p... We welcome the strategy - our Chair Mike Smyth contributed as a taskforce delegate - but it's now imperative they deliver on the actions laid out.

"We all have a responsibility to “play it forward”. If we can, we should support other communities, who in turn will help the next generation" Nice words from Mark and Ilonka here✊

This was a nice surprise - after calculating how much E4All solar schools saved on their energy bills (by hosting community-owned panels rather than paying market rate for their electricity) we found 6 co-ops saved the schools almost £1 million in ONE YEAR: energy4all.co.uk/schools-save...

The new 'What We Do' section really shows how much these co-ops contribute beyond generating clean energy - increasing biodiversity, working with researchers and supporting schools among others. Well done to everyone involved.

For anyone who may have missed it on our website or LinkedIn - you have this weekend left to apply for our Renewable Energy Project Manager role based in the East Midlands/Yorkshire region. Lots of exciting projects in the pipeline in that area.

It's our turn! Join other energy communities around Europe in listening to Mark and Mike from Energy4All chat about how renewable energy coops here in the UK can be financed.

While it's important to see the bigger picture (lack of rain has not been ideal for hydropower, and we are on course for a poor arable harvest) this is a good bit of news for UK solar - up 42% on last year We need a diverse energy mix, the more of it in community ownership the better 🔆

We are proud to have been re-elected to the REScoop Board, with @markluntley.bsky.social as President, strengthening our ties with our European partners

Last week Energy4All were in Kraków for the @rescoop.eu European Energy Communities Forum - an event bringing together passionate energy community leaders from 42 different countries 🌍 Here we have Mark, Noora & Jess from @westmillenergy.bsky.social

Have you noticed changes on the Energy4All website this year? We have made a series of updates to make information clearer for our different audiences, and improve user friendliness for desktop and mobile. Check it out energy4all.co.uk

At the Energy4All Conference Sarah Boyack gave an excellent keynote speech and we received a video message from Michael Shanks MP: the voices of community energy are currently being heard, even if there is plenty more work to be done!

How do we maximise their benefits of renewable energy for local communities? A new report has been published on the Energy4All website 🔆 Chaitanya Kumar (New Economics Foundation), Sarah Boyack MSP and Janet Moxley (Auchrobert Community Energy) discussed the findings at our conference on Saturday.

Today GB Energy announced their first major project: a £180 million investment putting solar panels on schools and hospitals, and money to 'help build local clean energy projects' including an additional £5 million each to the Community Energy Fund and CARES scheme ▶️

Energy4All's CEO, Marna McMillin, was in the Houses of Parliament yesterday making the case for community energy 🌟 In this clip Marna uses @nlce2024.bsky.social as an example of the far-reaching benefits of a community energy scheme. Full video: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Speaking of more share offers coming up soon...

The @nlce2024.bsky.social share offer is now closed, having exceeded it's target of £700k. They will have a busy 2025 building solar panels on rooftops in North Lincs ☀️ We have no share offers open at the moment, but more coming up soon.

Online Q&A coming up about the @nlce2024.bsky.social share offer, closing soon. Who benefits? Who owns what? Is the energy used directly? Learn about this case and community energy more generally ➡️

Renewable energy coops in Lincolnshire are showing how 'co-operation between co-operatives' is done: a great celebration of projects in the area

More people (62%) would support a community-owned renewable energy project in their area compared to a private-owned project (40%). A jump from a minority to a majority: we have a crucial role to play in the UK's energy transition 🍃