Category: Community Energy

Devon Community Energy Impact Report 2018

By Kate Royston

Great to be included in the Regen Communities & Devon County Council report highlighting the importance of Community Energy in Devon.

Devon Community Energy organisations have installed 12.3 MW of Renewable Energy through 62 projects in Devon. One of the many positive impacts highlighted in the report available here.

Check out Tamar Energy Community (TEC) Community Solar here.

 

Look at the huge CO2 equivalent savings made by Devon Community Energy organisations from generating green energy through renewables!

 

 

Through energy advice, energy efficiency measures and tariff switching, Devon Community Energy organisations are tackling fuel poverty.

 

 

Partnerships and connections with other organisations enable Devon Community Energy to go further so that more people benefit.

 

The number of Devon Community Energy organisations has increased to 23. Collectively they employ 33 FTE staff have 297 volunteers and 3457 members.

 

Devon Community Energy organisations collectively have raised £14.1 million to fund their Community Energy projects.

 

 

Here are the key success factors highlighted by Devon Community Energy organisations.

 

 

A lack of viable business models due to reduction in FIT was the most common reasons causing some Devon Community Energy projects to stall.

 

 

Devon has more Community Energy organisations than anywhere else in England … find out why here …

Community Energy in Devon has created 33 FTE, jobs, raised £14 million & generated enough clean green energy for 3423 homes in 2017.

 

Community Solar

Community Solar

Installing at Mount Kelly Prep

community-solar-sun-community-solarWe’re celebrating the fifth year of our Community Solar investment and generation across the Tamar Valley with an additional 100kW installation. It’s on the roof of the 50m pool of the Mount Kelly Swim Centre.

Our Host Sites

Working with local organisations we’ve installed 425kW of community owned solar PV across six sites.

Click here to see a graph of the latest generation.

Why is Community Solar Important

The installations are owned by our community, and are managed and maintained by Tamar Energy Community (TEC).

Community solar brings many benefits to our community and local economy:

  • Our host sites benefit from reduced cost electricity. As community generators a proportion of their energy needs are generated locally from renewable sources which is good for our planet, and they can promote the benefits of renewables to their stakeholders. We can also work with them to reduce their energy usage in other ways as well.
  • Our local community has the opportunity to invest in, and co-own the installation by purchasing community shares, and receive a fair rate of return.
  • The money which would otherwise have been paid by host sites (for their solar energy) to national and international energy companies is paid to TEC, a community benefit society, and retained in the local economy.
  • Any surplus from our community solar goes into our Community Energy Fund and is used to alleviate fuel poverty across the area.

 

Kate Royston, TEC’s Community Solar project developer: “We’re immensely proud that we’ve been able to add to our first community generation projects! It’s been hard work but very worthwhile and we look forward to developing more projects in the future”.

 

Funding the projects

Our initial portfolio was funded by our local Community Solar Seed Loan investors who loaned us £118,000 to help make sure everything was installed in time and Cornwall’s Low Carbon Society who loaned us £285,000.

Last autumn we launched our Community Solar Share offer to enable TEC to pay back the Low Carbon Society Loan and our Community Solar Seed Loan investors … and ensure wider community ownership. £322,000 was raised in a few weeks, and we’re grateful to our new community investors. You can find out more about our first community solar share offer here.

Making our Community Solar possible

Our Community Solar projects would not have been possible without the help of our valued installers Sungift Energy and ZLC Energy, our legal support from Bright Solicitors, the work of our volunteers, grants from the Devon County Council and Regen Accelerator Programme and importantly our Rural Community Energy Fund Grant of £20,000. This enabled us to work with our consultants from Communities for Renewables and Plymouth Energy Community; and of course our investors.

If you’d like to get more involved with our community solar please email us at hello@tamarenergycommunity.com or call on 07969 569 444.