Borough urged to avail of SMALLEST service

ACTION Renewables and the University of Ulster has launched an innovative new service which will help make renewable energy more accessible to the smallest and most remote communities throughout Northern Ireland.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jul 2010, 16:55 BST
Updated 23rd Jul 2010, 11:49 BST

The ‘SMALLEST’ service (Solutions for Microgeneration that ALLow Energy Saving Technologies), is a European funded project which will establish a free ‘hand-holding’ service across all Northern Periphery Programme (NPP) partner regions, including Northern Ireland, providing support for rural communities interested in undertaking renewable energy projects.

The service is specifically designed to increase awareness of the potential benefits of renewable energy for small communities and will also provide support and assistance in the planning of green energy generation projects.

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The ‘SMALLEST’ service will help communities identify the best way to convert from traditional to renewable energy generation and will provide communities with a mentoring service offering access to trained and qualified professional and practical support.

The project will also introduce innovative training and mentoring programmes for existing advisory services.

The ‘SMALLEST’ project, which was officially launched at the Ecos Centre in Ballymena last week, will run for three years until June 2012 during which time Action Renewables and the Ulster Business School at the University of Ulster, Coleraine will also be working in collaboration with international project partners from Finland, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, Scotland and Sweden.

Terry Waugh, deputy director, Action Renewables commented: “The “SMALLEST” service will encourage and stimulate renewable energy generation in remote rural communities and as a result assist in reducing, costs, pollution, environmental damage, and encourage self-reliance for future energy generation.

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“Most importantly, this service will standardise support processes and allow communities to draw upon pooled skills and shared knowledge.”

The project is open to rural organisations throughout Northern Ireland and anyone interested in benefiting from this free service should contact Leanne Rice ([email protected]) at Action Renewables on 028 9073 7868 for further information or log on to www.actionrenewables.org

Related topics:Northern Ireland