New project to help communities plan local energy systems – Research Associate post available
Bangor University is working in partnership with Community Energy Wales (CEW) on a new Welsh Government-funded project that aims to support communities in planning their own local energy systems.
The project, ‘Visualising the Energy Future’ is supported through the Welsh Government’s SMART Partnership funding scheme and brings together academic expertise from the University with CEW’s extensive experience of community energy development in Wales.
The collaboration was initiated by Professor Thora Tenbrink, from the University’s School of Arts, Culture and Language, in collaboration with Professor Adrian Gepp and Dr Sadeque Hamdan from The Albert Gubay Business School, following long-standing discussions with CEW about the challenges communities face at the earliest stages of energy planning.
Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) generate renewable energy and distribute it locally, helping to reduce energy costs, improve energy security, and give communities more control over how energy is produced and used. Although there are successful examples across Wales, deciding which type of system might work in a particular place can be difficult without access to specialist knowledge and data.
While organisations such as CEW and Ynni Teg provide valuable support once a project has been identified, communities often struggle to access the right local information to inform those initial decisions.
This project will address this gap by developing an easy-to-use, online decision-support tool that brings together place-based data from existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The tool will present this information in accessible format for non-experts, helping community groups to explore local conditions and understand which renewable energy options may be suitable in their area. The tool will be made publicly available on the CEW website.
Professor Tenbrink said, “Many communities have the motivation and local knowledge to develop energy projects but lack access to the technical information needed at the start. This collaboration is about making that information visible and usable.”
As part of the project, applications are now invited for a 12-month, full-time Research Associate post. The role will focus on applying GIS and data analytics to support community-led responses to climate change.
Full details of the post and how to apply are available here.