Community Energy
Renewable energy expertise for community-led projects
Dulas provides independent technical expertise to help community energy groups, local authorities and project partners turn renewable energy ambitions into viable, deliverable projects.
From an initial idea or potential site through feasibility, planning, design and project delivery, our multidisciplinary renewable energy team can support projects throughout the development journey. We work across solar PV, wind, hydro, battery energy storage and associated infrastructure, helping clients understand which opportunities are worth progressing and how to overcome the technical and development challenges involved.
With more than 40 years’ experience in renewable energy and our own roots as an employee-owned co-operative, we understand both the technical requirements of developing successful renewable energy projects and the importance of creating long-term value for communities.
Community energy development and consultancy
Community energy development and consultancy/span>
Whether you have identified a specific renewable energy opportunity or want to understand what could be developed across a community, estate or portfolio of sites, Dulas can provide the technical expertise required to establish what is viable.
Our community energy consultants can assess individual technologies or multi-technology opportunities, considering renewable resource, site constraints, planning, grid, energy demand, project economics and development risk.
We can remain involved as projects progress, providing continuity from early-stage assessment through planning, technical design, procurement and delivery.
Our services include:
Community renewable energy feasibility
Community renewable energy feasibility
Early-stage feasibility is often one of the most important parts of a community energy project. A good feasibility study needs to establish not simply whether renewable energy could be generated, but whether there is a realistic project worth developing.
Dulas can investigate opportunities across a single site or multiple locations, considering solar PV, wind, hydro, energy storage and EV charging, or combinations of technologies.
Our assessments can bring together technical, environmental, planning, grid and commercial considerations to identify the most promising opportunities and provide a clear route towards the next stage of development.
This multi-technology approach has already been applied by Dulas to community projects in Powys and around Bute Energy’s Twyn Hywel Energy Park.
Our services include:
Design and project delivery
Once a community energy opportunity has been shown to be viable, Dulas can provide the specialist support needed to progress it through planning, design and delivery.
Our combination of renewable energy engineering, planning and environmental expertise and practical project management allows us to support the technical development of a project rather than handing it over at the end of the feasibility stage.
Depending on the project, Dulas can act as technical consultant, project manager or Client’s Engineer, working alongside community organisations, local authorities, developers, installers and other specialist advisers to move projects towards construction and operation.
Our services include:
Smart local energy and energy storage
Community energy is increasingly expanding beyond renewable generation to consider how locally generated electricity can be stored, managed and used more effectively.
Building on our existing renewable energy and battery integration experience, Dulas has developed new technical capabilities around battery energy storage, Energy Management Systems (EMS), Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs).
Dulas works across different models of community and local energy development.
We can provide independent technical support directly to community organisations, help local authorities identify and develop viable local renewable energy opportunities, and work with commercial renewable energy developers seeking to deliver meaningful community-energy, shared-ownership or social-value initiatives.
Our aim in each case is the same: to provide the technical expertise needed to turn renewable energy opportunities into practical projects.
