Between 2012 and 2013 a small voluntary community group, in a parish of 1000 people in Tipperary, leveraged a total investment of almost €450,000 by carrying out energy efficiency upgrade work on 50 homes (26 in receipt of Fuel allowance), 2 community halls, including over €100,000 invested by the local community.

Energy Communities is an initiative driven by North Tipperary LEADER Partnership (NTLP).
We are working with 4 communities interested in taking part in a community retrofit and insulation scheme that will save energy, save money, warm homes, create jobs and receive a community grant. By building teams of people who can meet regularly in their locality, we aim to support the coordination of retrofit projects across Tipperary.
We are committed to seeing communities drive forward in this recession by pooling together their resources so as to make a full gain from the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) Better Energy Communities grant.

This scheme is based on the Drombane/Upperchurch Energy project, initiated in 2011 by Drombane Village Group, which sought to stimulate economic activity within the parishes of Drombane and Upperchurch. Following a detailed community-run Home Energy Survey, a cluster of interested householders was put together for energy efficiency work funded under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s pilot Better Energy Scheme in 2012.