A community group is hoping to create its own energy from the natural surroundings of the Ffestiniog area.

With the Welsh Government having laid the challenge ‘for Wales to produce 70 percent of the energy it uses through renewable sources by 2030’, members of the town and community councils in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Trawsfynydd, Gellilydan, Maentworg, Penrhyndeudraeth, Llanfrothen and Talsarnau have come together to develop plans of taking advantage of opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

The aim is to secure community ownership of local energy assets. The name of the enterprise, that is registered as a community interest company, is ‘Ynni Cymunedol Twrog’.

The main aim of ‘Ynni Cymunedol Twrog’ is to take maximum advantage of our natural resources for the benefit of communities. The enterprise sees local resources, especially the potential for renewable energy, as an opportunity to create employment and substantial investment opportunities. The members share the same vision, ‘To ensure that money and energy stays and circulates within our local communities for the benefit of the residents’.

Gareth Thomas, chair of Ynni Cymunedol Twrog, said: “At a time when our children are protesting about the global warming that their generation will face this is an exciting initiative by seven community councils to develop projects that will contribute to a sustainable environment. It will also allow our community to ensure that any economic benefits will be kept locally. This is an initiative by local people for local people and the planet we live on.”

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