Green Energy Cluster
The FREE network group to support renewable microgeneration businesses in Wales
Events, newsletter and information for your business
Newsletters
The latest Cluster newsletter from September and all previous issues are available on our newsletters page.
Sector news - GEC blog
The Green Energy Cluster now has a blog which we use to rapidly pass on information from various news sources about developments which affect the microgeneraton sector in Wales. GEC members are also able to add comments on the stories, and manufacturers and installers from our members can leave their contact details on relevant posts from our "sector highlight" posts.
Events
If you want to be updated on the latest news and events download a GEC membership form to subscribe to our newsletters.
15th March 2007, National Botanic Garden of Wales
Sustainable Design: Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Buildings
Ninety-five people, representing 30 private businesses and 26 public sector or non-for-profit organisations attended the event. This was the first event where we have needed to put people on a waiting list and turn down last minute registrations, reflecting the relevance of the information and contacts we were providing and also the benefits of choosing an attractive venue.
The first presentation, from Trevor Roach, Head of Science and Education at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, set the context for the Garden’s installation of a biomass boiler and their long-term commitment to sustainable development. This was followed by a short tour taking in the biomass boiler, the water treatment system (the waste water from which is used on the biomass plantation) and the glasshouse heated by the boiler. Delegates were split into five groups, mixing suppliers with customers, separating people from the same organisation into different groups, and with an EGS team member in each group to act as informal facilitator.
The afternoon series of presentations covered aspects of Low Carbon design and demonstrated the involvement of key players in the installation of a renewable energy system - in this case solar thermal technology in a Gwalia Housing Association project. Speakers came from the company that designed and installed the system (Filsol), the architects (PCKO) and the housing association (Gwalia).
After a brief presentation updating delegates on developments with the Microgeneration Action Plan and Low Carbon Building Programme, the day was finished with four presentations from GEC companies. Two of the presenting companies, Dulas and Filsol, were recently successful as the lead partners tendering to be framework suppliers for the Phase 2 LCBP funding.
Presentations from the event are now available:
Trevor Roach - National Botanic Garden of Wales (2.6 MB)
Cindy Harris - Design Council for Wales (4.4 MB)
Haf Roberts - Gwalia (2.2 MB)
John Blower - Filsol (Burry) (324 Kb)
PCKO (3.6 MB)
Enviropower CHP (200 kB)
John Blower - Filsol (1.5 MB)
Mat Hutchinson - PBE (1.2 MB)
Ian Draisey - Dulas (373kB)
"Connecting Renewable Energy Businesses with Housing Providers"
Tuesday 24 Oct 2006, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, 10:00-14:00
Wednesday 25 Oct 2006, Waterton Technology Centre, Bridgend, 10:00-14:00
Recent major changes in UK policy and regulations will greatly increase the market for building-linked renewables, not least by providing greater incentives to housing providers and developers.
Housing Providers and the Public Sector
Sixty-seven people, representing 43 organisations attended the event over the two days. Speakers from Grwp Gwalia, Carmarthenshire Energy Agency and Powys County Council explained about different drivers and ambitions for RE installations. Several GEC members gave presentations about their products and services.
Download the full list of people who registered or attended the event.
Presentations available for download:
Update on UK Microgeneration Strategy, LCBP and Microgeneration Action Plan for Wales - Katharine York, EGSi
The Role of Housing Associations (7.8MB) - Haf Roberts, Grwp Gwalia
Also available are the following case studies produced by Gwalia about a number of their projects:Clase
Llety
Plas Y Mor
St Johns
Swansea Foyer
Ty Caitlin
Working with Housing Associations and the Public Sector to Achieve On-Site Renewable Generation (1.8MB) - Ian Draisey, Dulas Ltd
Experiences in specifying and installing renewable energy technologies - Andy Bull, Powys County Council
Sustainable Energy in Carmarthenshire - Guto Owen, Carmarthenshire Energy Agency
Welsh Biofuels - Ken Shaw (wood pellets)
EAGA - Steven Caseley (solar water heating)
ESCO Cymru - Allan Sharp (wood chip and woodland management)
EETS - Bruce Cross (solar photovoltaic and small wind turbines)
Also presenting were:
Organic Energy Company - Andy Burroughs (wood pellet boilers and solar water heating)
Llani Solar - Chris Lord-Smith (solar water heating & Association of Environmentally Conscious Builders)
March 2007 - TBC
Report from 2nd Green Energy Cluster meeting
11th July 2006, Technium Aberystwyth
12th July 2006, Groundwork Bridgend
In total, 42 people registered for the event, representing 33 organisations. Delegates included representatives of renewable energy SMEs, energy agencies, local planners and WAG.
In the morning session, speakers covered:
The afternoon session on marketing catered to the needs of businesses new to the market, start-ups or established businesses with limited marketing experience. The session provided a useful opportunity for the businesses to network with each other and share experiences of marketing activity. Requests for support from the network included:
Download presentations [pdf, 96pp, 2.4MB]
Launch event
4 April 2006, Cardiff
There were nearly 100 attendees and all feedback was extremely positive, saying they found the event useful and wished to be involved with future activities of the network.
The focus of the Green Energy Cluster event was forward intelligence on key new UK schemes and policies. Key speakers from the DTI, Building Research Establishment, WAG, and EST gave critical and timely new information on how changes to building regulations will impact on renewable energy installations, the new government ‘Low Carbon Building Programme’ incentive scheme, and the UK and Welsh Micro-generation strategies.
