World Community Power Conference

WWEA Community Power, Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies and Japan Community Power Association invited the world of community power cordially to attend the 1st World Community Power Conference 2016 taking place in Fukushima City. WCPC aims at bring leading community power proponents from Japan and the world together in order to discuss the role community power has to play in the global shift towards renewable energy. WCPC also discussed a global community power strategy and its national and local implications.

WCPC took place on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Paris climate change agreement in which all governments of the world have agreed to switch the global energy supply to greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050, meaning in fact 100 % renewable energy. WCPC happened on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident and of the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Community Power is usually defined as renewable energy installations initiated, operated and controlled by local citizens. Community power has a proven very positive impact on deployment rates of renewable energy and increases the economic benefits of renewable energies.

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Mali and many of its neighbouring countries face many challenges in supplying its population with energy, including its distance from the coast (1 000km) low population density, and some of the highest levels of poverty in the world. Mali is heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels, but has vast renewable energy resources, and community power has the potential to improve living standards and reduce poverty for millions of people. Access to energy is now understood as a requirement for economic development and at the local level in villages and at the macro-economic level in Africa. Developing so-called bankable  projects is the key to apply and to use already available climate finance sources for community power. How to overcome this challenge is one focus of the conference.

Mali has also experienced geo-political challenges from 2012 including a coup and rebellion in the north of the country. Community Power has the potential to improve living conditions and stimulate micro and macro economic growth and also brings local resources for use by local population.

The challenge for the world in general, and Africa and Mali in particular, is to make a transition towards clean, democratically controlled, participatory and distributed renewable energy sources. That means moving away from the centralised energy systems to decentralised renewable solutions. Use of Community Power implementation will bring even more benefits to local communities.

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