Following the formal establishment of Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árainn (Aran Islands Energy Cooperative) the Aran Islands in partnership with Energy Co-operatives Ireland is set to announce that it will be Ireland’s first living energy technology development centre (Irish Times coverage of the announcement).
It will actively engage with technology developers to trial new innovations in renewable energy on the island. This will make the islands a centre for research and development, boosting revenues and employment on the islands and helping the community to achieve energy independence.
The Islands are also keen to focus their renewable energy strategy on maximizing the secondary benefits available from new technologies. Comharchumann Fuinnimh will seek to attract new businesses and industry to the islands which will compliment the existing businesses in order to maximise the local benefits of sustainable energy production.
Comharchumann Fuinnimh recognises that the Islands have an almost unique place in the cultural and environmental sphere in Ireland and indeed the world. It will protect that legacy by engaging with renewable energy technology developers in such a way as to maximise the social and environmental benefits of their innovations.