Glinsk Sustainable Energy Community was set up in 2019 when a number of organisations in the area formed under one umbrella group. The group were primarily interested in refurbishing the existing Community Campus buildings in Glinsk as well as promoting retrofits in homes in the area. The initial goal of the SEC was that all the community buildings in the area i.e. Community Centre, G.A.A. Club, Childcare Facility, National School would be powered by renewable energy.
The SEC is made up of representatives from all organisations in the area such as Glinsk Community Development Society, Glinsk G.A.A. Club, Glinsk Ladies G.A.A. Club, Glinsk National School, Glinsk Ladies Club, Athru Saoil, Glinsk Childcare Facility.
The first project to be completed was the refurbishment of the Community Centre. Originally built in the late eighties, the centre was in need of a full refurbishment. The main part of this project was removing a stage area and renovating it to a Multi-Purpose Room. This involved fitting new windows and doors, insulating the stage area internally on the walls, floor and ceiling and installing an air-to-air heat pump. The external walls of the new room and the main Sports Hall were all pumped with additional insulation. This renovation has provided a much-needed space in the Community for meetings, events and demonstrations and is used during the day by Athru Saoil, an early intervention educational facility.
As well as this a number of homes were retrofitted in the area at this time. One dwelling had a full retrofit with external insulation, new windows and Doors and a new heat pump. Other retrofits were smaller in scale but included new doors/windows, external insultation, pumped cavity insultation, heating controls and roof insulation.
In 2023 the Community partnered with JFW Renewables for a large fundraising for a Community Sports Facility with the first prize being a 6.4 kW Solar PV system with 10 kW battery storage. A number of dwellings have also installed Solar Panels at this time.
The Glinsk Energy Master Plan (see right) was completed towards the end of 2023 and includes a number of potential projects to improve the sustainability of the area. The local National School have recently benefitted from the Governments Solar Panel initiative. Installing Solar Panels on the School was one of our priorities and was part of the proposals put forward in the Energy Audit carried out on the school and the Energy Master Plan.
Glinsk SEC was nominated as a finalist for the 2023 SEAI awards in the Inspirational Sustainable Energy Community category. While the SEC did not take home the main prize, the nomination was a great acknowledgment of the voluntary work that is done by the SEC and one we were very grateful to get.
