Community Power Agency offers various consulting services to a range of corporate, government and community clients on the organisational, technical, economic, environmental and social dimensions of community energy and the transition to clean energy more broadly.
Our expertise derives from our in-depth knowledge of the community renewable energy sector and our experience in community engagement, facilitation, research, business model innovation and policy development.
Community Power Agency works closely with project partners to improve the social outcomes of renewable energy development for communities, regulators and developers. We are leaders in corporate benefit-sharing and community engagement practices within the sector and are committed to ensuring a fair and equitable transition to a clean energy economy.
We work collaboratively with our partners and clients to develop engagement and benefit-sharing strategies tailored to the local context and to build strong relationships between local people and renewable developers.
How a renewable energy project is incorporated into the local community is fundamental to its success. Developing and implementing an appropriate and effective community engagement and benefit strategy for renewable energy project is an essential aspect of any successful project, whether it be a community or a corporate project.
As with other areas of project development, community engagement benefits from specialist knowledge.
Community Power Agency works with project developers to develop approaches to community engagement and benefit sharing that are tailored to the local context. We can assist with social context analysis, stakeholder mapping, social risk analysis, strategy development, implementation, training and evaluation.
Our preferred approach is to work alongside project developers to increase your understanding of and capacity to deliver community engagement and benefit sharing. We can support you to develop, implement and/or evaluate a strategy that will add value to your project through enhanced social outcomes.
We design and deliver interactive workshops and trainings to build knowledge, skills and capacity to support your organisation or renewable energy project.
CPA develops innovative business models and undertakes research on the various dimensions of community energy, clean energy access and the wider energy transition.
We engage in sector-level advocacy, policy development and analysis that supports the growth of community energy in Australia.
ACHIEVEMENTS
We have successfully completed consulting contracts for clients such as:
- Sustainability Victoria
- State Governments – NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
- Institute for Sustainable Futures
- UPC Renewables
- Clean Energy Council
- Climate Council
- Local governments – Mornington Peninsular Shire, Armidale Regional Council
- Several community organisations.
- Co-authoring Australia’s first How-To-Guide to Community Renewable Energy for the NSW Government, providing communities with the essential decision-making tools to get their projects off the ground.
- In 2015, the Victorian Government commissioned an updated and Victoria-specific version.
- Working with the Victorian Government to develop the guide to Community Engagement and Benefit Sharing in the Renewable Energy Industry, released to inform the Victorian Renewable Energy Target tender process.
- Working with UPC Renewables Australia to develop a benefit sharing strategy for their planned 700MW (DC) New England Solar Farm. This is one of the most comprehensive processes for developing and delivering a benefit sharing initiative for large scale solar implemented in the Australian context to date.
- Undertaking a progress and final external evaluation of the Pilot Community Power Hubs Program for Sustainability Victoria.
Thank you for the Inception and Community Engagement Workshops. Your knowledge and inspiration was so beneficial to COREM. You have helped us focus, realise our strengths and set achievable goals. We feel we are really on the way now to develop some exciting projects.
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