Tipperary’s 37M Energy transition program gets the green light

Tipperary Energy Agency, a social enterprise, with offices in Cahir and Nenagh has announced that the EIB is to support an energy efficiency programme run over three years in the County. Tipperary joins regions and cities across Europe, including London, Paris and Manchester, that have participated in the ELENA facility. The ELENA facility, which is funded by the European Union and managed by the EIB, has supported a wide range of energy projects including the retrofit of a thousand housing units in the Picardy region of France and an energy efficient light rail system in Aarhus, Denmark.

Paul Kenny, CEO Tipperary Energy Agency said “Tipperary is widely regarded as a leader in sustainable energy activity in both the public and private sectors. With the support of National and European programs over the last decade, much of the ground work has been already been completed. This ELENA facility grant will continue to drive Tipperary’s energy projects and will substantially reduce fossil fuel use among hundreds of homes and businesses in the County”.

The ELENA facility Coordinator within the EIB, Reinhard Six is in Ireland this week for the Sustainable Energy Investment Forum in Clontarf Castle on Thursday 28th of September to detail the opportunities for investment development support available through the EIB. Reinhard, a long-time supporter of local energy action, said “Local Energy Investment is what Europe needs to reduce the risks of climate change and improve its competitiveness. ELENA seeks to support the European Union’s key objectives of Climate Change mitigation, energy security and competitiveness. The EU funding is used to increase the level of investment in Sustainable Energy, through supporting bottom up initiatives like Sustainable Tipp.

The supported programme in Tipperary will be officially launched as ‘Sustainable Tipp’ in 2018 and will run over three years. Work in many of the supported projects is well under way and will incorporate projects such as SuperHomes Ireland, which retrofits homes to ‘A’ energy rated standard and Better Energy Communities, which provides assistance to community groups, sports clubs and SMEs for their energy projects. The programme will add 10 staff to the Tipperary Energy Agency, who are currently recruiting a number of additional technical staff to lead and support the energy transition in Tipperary.