February 2025 Update

This year is shaping up to be a big one for Repowering London. It may be early days, but we have a lot to share with you – including exciting new ways you can get involved in creating community energy. 

• An opportunity to invest is on the way – Our latest share offer is a way to make an impact. Make your pledge today.
• Become an Energy Rights champion – Sign up for our upcoming training for frontline workers and volunteers.
• Have a green job opening? – You may be able to provide the next step one of our Voyage to Repower graduates needs.
• We are in good company – Recent polls suggest the public has a lot of love for community energy.

Members of the Repowering London, CEN and Newham Council teams welcomed MP Uma Kumaran to East Ham library just ahead of CEN's share offer launch

We are excited to announce that a Community Energy Newham (CEN) share offer is opening soon, bringing a new opportunity to invest in clean local energy in London. Solar panels have already been installed on East Ham and Beckton Globe libraries, and an installation on Stratford Library is on the way. Now CEN, with the help of Repowering London, is readying to raise £120,000 in investments to bring these solar panels into community ownership.

In the run-up to the offer going live CEN hosted MP Uma Kumaran, showing off the East Ham panels and sharing more about the co-op and community energy. See what she had to say about the visit here. 

You can be part of the action. Making an investment is a chance to bring a cleaner, brighter future to Newham, and receive a reasonable 3% return (target). The solar panels not only generate renewable energy for the borough, but will bring money into the local community as surplus profit goes straight back into local initiatives through the CEN community fund. Every investor also becomes a CEN member, giving opportunities to meet new people, learn new skills and have a voice in this new, collaborative community organisation. 

Be one of the first on board

We'll let everyone know as soon as the offer is officially open, but you can show your support right now by making a pledge using the button below. This won't lock you into any particular amount but it does mean you'll be first to hear as soon as the share offer goes live. 

Want to learn more? There are more details on the CEN webpage, including an FAQ to help you understand how community shares and community energy co-ops work. 

Access to energy can be a matter of life or death. Our Energy Rights training can help frontline workers provide support for people who are at risk

Repowering London is offering free training on Energy Rights for health, early years, social care and housing professionals, frontline support workers and volunteers.

If you work in any of those areas you will be in regular contact with people whose health is negatively impacted by the use of prepayment meters. These metres can be forcefully installed, creating issues for people who depend on a consistent power supply to maintain good health or whose health is put at risk from cold and damp. 

Our Energy Rights course aims to tackle this issue by sharing knowledge on new rights and protections for households with the people who can make a difference in the course of their work every day.

Registration is open now for training on 13 February and 27 February. Sign up or learn more about the course using the button below. But don't take long – we expect the sessions to fill up fast.

It's all hands on deck at a recent Voyage to Repower sustainability workshop

The second instalment of our Voyage to Repower employability and personal development course has just finished, helping another group of young people to develop their understanding of clean energy and sustainability and to see how the green sector can provide a potential career path.

We worked with nine young people during the course, which was supported by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (Future Neighbourhoods 2030), North Kensington Community Energy, and Younity.

One student said: “I have been motivated to find a job in the green industry". While another fed back: "I feel more outspoken as I’ve been involved in a lot of discussions that I wouldn’t normally have had".

Will you support our students' next steps?

We want to build the green energy workforce for the future, and give young people the opportunity to be part of a climate solution. So as part of our programme we offer support in finding employment.

We'd love to hear from you if you are a sustainability-focused business interested in taking on newly trained, budding and eager employees in a full or part-time role, as part of an apprenticeship scheme, work experience programme or short-term contract. 

Our candidates are most interested in: Graphic Design, Data, Communications and Social Media, Cyber Security, Interior Design, International Relations, Accountancy, Software Development. But we're keen to hear about any opportunities.

Get in contact with julia.dunlop@repoweringlondon.org.uk if you feel you can support their entry into the workforce, or for more information about our candidates. 

We can’t wait to see what they get up to next!

We are thrilled to hear that there is a high level of support for community energy among the public. A recent YouGov poll showed that 62% of those asked would support a community-owned renewable energy project in their area. Meanwhile, 24% are likely to volunteer their time, and 14% to invest money in community energy projects like our CEN share offer. 

Repowering London has now added Bluesky to its range of social channels, in common with many of our fellow community energy organisations. If you would like to follow us on @repoweringlondon.bsky.social we would love to see you there. 

We hope you enjoyed reading this update from Repowering London. Please share this newsletter with anyone you feel would also be interested in Creating Local Energy.

Repowering London, 234-244 Stockwell Road, Brixton, London, Greater London SW9 9SP