Sustainable Marine Energy Communities (SMEC)

Overview

SMEC will deliver a report based on the feasibility studies undertaken across 3 Northern Periphery and Artic (NPA) regions by giving fishing communities a toolkit and framework on setting up energy communities such that they can sustainably balance their energy profiles with local renewable energy. Additionally, it will contain assessment of mechanisms from the new EU energy directives such as peer to peer trading and how they can enable communities to maximise the amount of renewable energies they can integrate locally.

This feeds into the overall strategy of the program with knowledge transfer between technical experts in the energy field in research institutes with SME’s based in remote fishing regions who historically have had limited access to such expertise. This facilitates the development of economic solutions and their practical application across NPA regions.

Innovation can then flow in both directions by working together to develop new, practical solutions that can be applied across all regions via this collaborative approach. This will lead to more market focused enterprises availing of innovation fostering a higher level of entrepreneurship. These economically robust communities based on local renewable resources can address challenges of depopulation, brain drain and economic diversity.

Key Objectives

The feasibility studies will position communities with a framework to undertake all steps involved in setting up an Energy Community (EC) based on the criteria applicable to their region. This will include an assessment of the chosen regions and its renewable energy potential. Members will then be assessed, and their data collected to facilitate energy profiling across industrial, commercial and residential sites. Energy community structure and governance issues will be assessed to suit requirements and the development steps such as planning permission, grid connection and support schemes reviewed. This will lead to potential revenue streams, financing options and community economics against renewable energy options.