Plan for your energy future with support from SEAI. Our partnership approach enables willing communities to create their Energy Master Plan.

Why partner with the SEAI

The SEC partnership approach aims to enable bottom-up community energy solutions. Such a task cannot be achieved in isolation, so we want to partner with willing communities in planning for their energy future. We encourage SECs who are already in the Network to enter into a partnership with us.

A partnership approach is at the very core of the Sustainable Energy Community programme.

Aim of the partnership

The three year partnership is a two way exchange. Your community can access supports to help you to establish a baseline Energy Master Plan (EMP). The EMP will help you identify energy saving opportunities, put in place a tailored work plan for your community, track the progress, and review.

To enter into a partnership agreement, you must set up a clear organisational structure to manage your SEC. At a minimum, you should apporint a Steering Committee, main contact person and a financial controller.

The Energy Master Plan

The Energy Master Plan (EMP) can be separated into two parts, data collection and register of opportunities.

Data collection

We provide funding for your community to hire a consultant to help you collect local energy data. Examples of energy data collection may include:

  • Desk study research of local energy use- such as fuel types, energy systems, energy spend etc.
  • Energy audits of local buildings
  • Establishing a Building Energy Rating (BER) baseline on homes

These are just some examples of data that would be useful in your EMP. Every community is different, so you may identify other ways to establish your community energy baseline.

Register of Opportunities

This is a tool that enables you to record the energy saving opportunities in your community, based on what data you collect. By using average unit costs for different fuel types, you can estimate the cost savings (and emissions savings) associated with each unit of energy saved.

The tool can rank every project idea or energy saving opportunity to show you the most effective measures you can undertake. This will inform your work plan going forward.

Supports from SEAI

To recognise the time, people and local knowledge you put into an EMP, we provide some supports to help you. These include:

  • Access to a technical panel of experts
  • Funding to hire a consultant to help gather local energy data
  • Continued mentoring and guidance
  • Skills and competency building

How to enter a partnership

Fill out the following forms and email to sec@seai.ie. Your mentor will guide you through each form before you submit. We are happy to accept drafts and give you feedback.

Partnership application

Use our Partnership guide to help complete this application.

Community Charter

Use our Community Charter Guidelines to help complete your Community Charter.

Competency Assessment

Use our Competency Assessment Example to help complete this form.

Downloads

Contact us

Email sec@seai.ie