Community Energy England today says in a statement that it believes the party’s plans published yesterday “have the potential to transform Britain’s energy system through local action on climate which benefits local people”.

Labour’s promises unveiled yesterday back the party’s earlier pledges towards local energy. They include making targeted energy grants to local authorities from a £600 million pot, and low interest loans made direct to community groups from a pool of £400 million.

The party’s manifesto for 4 July declares “Local power generation is an essential part of the energy mix and reduces pressures on the transmission grid. Labour will deploy more distributed production capacity through our Local Power Plan. Great British Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to install thousands of clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar, and hydropower projects.

“We will invite communities to come forward with projects, and work with local leaders and devolved governments to ensure local people benefit directly from this energy production.”

In its statement Community Energy England endorses probable energy secretary Ed Miliband’s view that such backing can “kick-start thousands of transformational local energy project”.

“Labour’s Local Power Plan offers grants for local authorities and low interest loans for community energy organisations to do new local, community-led and owned clean energy projects“, the CEE’s statement says.

“Over five years, this could deliver 8 gigawatts of solar and onshore wind – the equivalent of 2.5 nuclear power stations – enough to power 4.35 million homes”.

CEE chief executive Emma Bridge went on, “We welcome the Labour manifesto’s plan to grow our fantastic community energy sector and unlock huge benefits for local people.

“Community energy projects deliver 12 to 13 times the benefit of commercial energy installations. So they are uniquely suited to engage local people to participate in the energy transformation. Labour’s Local Power Plan is a win, win, win for communities, local economies and the country,” said Bridge

In 2021, the Environmental Audit Committee advised the government that “due to the urgency of the climate crisis and the vital roles communities will have to play in reaching net zero, it is essential… to support the long-term growth of community energy across the UK.” Chris Skidmore MP in his Review of the Government’s Net Zero Policies recommended that the government “turbocharge community energy.”

“The Labour manifesto and their Local Power Plan demonstrate that the party understands that empowering people and communities to take local climate action, which will also benefit local people, is essential to achieving net zero.

“We are pleased to see real backing for community energy in the Liberal Democrat and Green manifestos too”, noted Bridge.

“All parties with plans to meet the scale of the climate challenge share the consensus that community energy is crucial for any serious climate policy programme.

“We are disappointed that the Conservative manifesto, despite stretching to 80 pages, does not mention community energy at all. The Conservatives’ manifesto doubles down on commitments to invest more in fossil fuels, including new gas power stations, while continuing to block renewable energy developments”.

Bridge says restrictions on new onshore wind turbines have effectively stopped new ones being built in England, with just a handful of new turbines being built per year.  The Conservatives’ programme as set out in its manifesto would slow down progress towards net zero and cement our dependence on fossil fuels for years to come”.

Personal voting intentions differ among CEE officials, as influenced by the parties’ varying stances in relation to the burgeoning co-operative sector.

This week CEE policy manager Duncan Law shared with a public meeting of south London co-op SE24 Community Energy his intention to vote Green, due to their support for local, accountable actions in response to the climate emergency.

Former Conservative energy minister Chris Skidmore last week told a London solar conference that he was ‘politically homeless’, after he resigned his Bristol seat last year in disappointment at the Sunak’s administration’s foot-dragging over green issues.   The West County former MP told delegates that the future of energy is local, citing the achievements of co-ops such as Bath and West Community Energy.

Outside the activities of its volunteer-run co-operatives, today’s CEE statement welcomes Labour’s pledge to double onshore wind capacity by 2030. It notes that new onshore turbines in England have been held back since David Cameron’s Conservatives introduced a de facto ban nine years ago.

Interest declared:  The present author has for several years invested in and volunteered for several community energy co-ops across London and the South East.

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Working with Lewes-based prize-winning co-operative Community Energy South (CES), the money from UK Power Networks will help as many as 20 community organisations & charities with grants of at least £50,000 in support of bill-payers in peril of falling behind in the nation’s transition to Net Zero.

UKPN believes energy groups including co-operatives play a key role in supporting vulnerable customers. This work will put boots on the ground, helping pay for local jobs for local people, towards a goal of reaching 20,000 people and conducting over 1,200 in-person home visits.

An award-winning not-for-profit consultancy providing mentoring to speed growth in the community energy sector, Community Energy South (CES) has been awarded funds to enlist and support the participating groups in delivering the work. This partnership will be crucial in ensuring the right support is established in the right places across London, the East and South East of England.

Six community energy groups are already on board and working on plans to recruit and expand their energy advice services. More groups will be coming online for the second phase starting in September.

Suleman Alli, UKPN’s director of finance & customer service, said: “We’re extremely proud to be able to support the impactful work of community energy groups across the areas we serve. We hope this funding boost will make a meaningful difference to those in our community and provide our customers with support and guidance to ensure no one is left behind in the transition to Net Zero.”

CES will provide fully funded bespoke training for new recruits to become ‘energy champions’, now a sought-after career opportunity within the community energy sector.

One energy champion already working in the area said: “I enjoy visiting homes and meeting people and being able to help them with ideas on how they can improve their home and spend less money – and help the environment too. It’s a win win! The training gave me the knowledge and confidence to be able to go out to people’s homes and talk to them about saving energy. The support from the leaders and wider group has been brilliant for when something different crops up.”

CES chief executive Ollie Pendered said: “This is a groundbreaking moment for the community energy sector.

“The intrinsic value of all the hard work by thousands of volunteers across the country has been recognised, and through this campaign up to 20 community energy groups will have the opportunity to receive funding to create local job opportunities and deliver their energy saving campaigns within their communities. This is an extraordinary development and one we thank UK Power Networks for enabling.”

CES has previously worked with UKPN on their Energy Smart Communities  social venture, enabling infrastructure development to leave a lasting legacy which builds more resilient communities.

With a showcase project in the capital’s Leicester Square theatreland, Energy Smart Communities looks at innovative ways to develop community energy projects, raises awareness and provides support for those in fuel poverty and improves knowledge and skills in sustainable living through educational programmes with partners.

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Community-owned low carbon power thrives in much of continental Europe driven by helpful policies and political will, the report points out.  It praises Germany & Denmark; as half the latter’s wind generation capacity, it says, is in local control.

In contrast, growth in Britain’s community-owned energy – either volunteer-led or municipal – has fallen, from 81% in 2016-17 to just 2.4% in 2020-21, the report notes.

Community Energy England is now collecting data from around 400 groups for its annual ‘State of the Sector’ report, a key influencer read by civil servants, ministers and politicians.

Common Wealth notes that Labour is pledged to allocate up to £3.3 billion to the party’s Local Power Plan, with funds distributed to municipal, co-operative and community energy projects.

The think tank’s study outlines an ambitious agenda, describing how community renewables could help to win local support for new energy infrastructure, and give communities a genuine stake in the UK’s clean power future.

The report argues that Labour’s nationalised creation GB Energy should co-invest with municipal, co-operative and community-owned energy providers using a ‘public-common partnerships model’, in which local accountability is coupled with wider public coordination of the energy transition.

Arguing against the report’s advocacy of municipal electricity and gas are costly failures, such as Bristol Energy, dead in 2021 owing £36 million to municipal taxpayers, and Nottingham’s Robin Hood Energy. The latter collapsed after five years in 2020, with debts of £34 million.  Nottingham City Council’s £16 million exposure contributed, critics argue, to the authority’s ‘effective’ bankruptcy three years later, last November.  I

Mimicking the design of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Common Wealth report argues Labour’s £3.3 bn for its Local Power Plan should be “uncapped”. If there is demand for viable projects that would decarbonise and cut bills, then the capital investment should be increased, Pearce argues .

The report echoes other voices in seeking planning reform, putting an end to a minority of objectors holding up new energy projects. Regional boards should pool generation and management resources, prevent surpluses being concentrated in hot spots.

The report comes as growth in the community sector stalls. The 2022 State of the Community Energy Sector report from revealed 65% more community energy organisations had stalled projects than in 2020. Growth in community-owned electricity capacity has been stunted, falling from 81% in 2016-17 to 18% in 2018-19 and 2.4% in 2020-21.

Factors holding the sector back have included the Conservatives’ continuing de facto ban on new onshore turbines in England, planning curbs, financing costs, and a perceived weakening of Rishi Sunak’s support for the sector.

The report contrast UK co-ops’ plight with Germany’s 900-plus success stories.  Sustained policy help given by the country’s town and regional councils, has contributed to German co-ops owning nearly 50% of onshore wind generation.

Germany’s nationally accountable infrastructure bank invests as much as 40% of an €80 billion annual fund on environmental projects that municipalities and communities can access.

Common Wealth argues the UK Infrastructure Bank could play a similar role to KfW, Germany’s self-described ‘bank for responsibility’ and help capitalise community energy projects.

The ginger group’s report comes after its separate study, which set out a pathway for GB Energy to become a clean energy giant, capable of driving the UK’s energy transition.

Nick Pearce, a research fellow at the think tank, wrote ‘Plug in Public Power’.    

He said: “Endless bureaucratic queues and anemic investment in the UK have stifled what should be a thriving sector that brings jobs, lower power bills, energy security and a voice to every corner of our nation.

“It’s time to take back control by bringing ownership home, away from far-off business interests and back to the people who use and produce energy.”

Keir Milburn, co-director of co-operative investment clearing house Abundance Investment, added:  

“Using public-common partnerships as the means to implement the Local Power Plan would give communities control over the surplus each enterprise produces. These can be used to help initiate new green projects which in turn could create their own surplus for reinvestment. In this way a self-expanding dynamic could be introduced into the Green Transition, massively accelerating it while also expanding and strengthening democracy.”

Interest declared: the author invests actively in several local British energy co-operatives. He has contacts within German energy co-ops.

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Running for 15 years, today’s deal will see the Co-op taking all the output from the dedicated 9MW site, pictured, near Wisbech.

Peak output from Coldham’s 19,000 panels will be enough, the Co-op calculates, to power 55 of its food stores, a demand equalling that from 2,000 homes.

Chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq said; “The launch of Coldham solar farm, as a result of our PPA with ScottishPower Renewables, shows Co-op’s commitment to achieving Net Zero in our own operations by 2035.

“Co-op maintains that the government should make decarbonising the grid a top priority”, Khoury-Haq went on. “

“However, businesses still have their part to play, and this solar farm is a further step in Co-op’s approach to renewable energy procurement through a mixture of PPAs and embedded generation.”

ScottishPower Renewables boss Charlie Jordan responded: “We’re delighted to partner with companies that understand the importance of decarbonising their operations.

“By securing long-term commitments, PPAs provide stability, certainty, and ultimately accelerate our journey towards a greener, more resilient energy landscape.”

Enriched with 7,500 native trees planted by SPR, the Coldham solar farm sits next to SPR’s existing windfarm, and benefits from the same grid connection.

The Co-op recently signed of a 15-year CPPA to offtake from a 34MW solar farm in north Yorkshire, Its arrays are due to come fully onstream next year.

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The organisation, which embraces grocery retailing, distribution and funeral home operation, will see its outlets part-supplied from developer Voltalia’s new 34 MWp farm at Eastgate, near Scarborough.

Co-operative ownership guarantees each member a vote in important strategic decisions and in annual leadership elections.  Voting rights are independent of the cash value of shares held.

Voltalia has begun installation of Eastgate’s planned 625,000 panels.  The first of its annual output rated at 34,000 MWh will flow by 2025, ready to meet around 7.5% of the national organisation’s consumption, spread across its 170 Co-op food stores and 500 funeral homes.

En route to making its own operations carbon neutral by 2035, the Co-op also continues to call for energy market reform.

Quoted on the Paris stock market, Voltalia has generating capacity of more than 2.7 GW in operation or under construction in four renewables technologies.  It controls a pipeline of projects under development representing a total capacity of 16.1 GW.

Its CEO Sébastien Clerc said: “We are very proud to support the Co-op in their Net Zero target by providing clean electricity in the food industry, reaching millions of individuals and enabling us to raise awareness of more sustainable and responsible consumption.

From his client, Co-op group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq replied: “The signing of this corporate PPA is a significant milestone demonstrating Co-op’s goal to green the energy grid and create transparency in the renewable energy market. “Not only will this agreement unlock more green energy, it will also enable energy security, drive economic growth and move us closer to net zero.

“That’s why we still believe that grid decarbonisation should be an absolute priority for the Government“, said the Co-op boss.

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Together rated at 18.8MWp, onshore turbines at Kirk Hill when completed next year will make up the largest consumer-owned wind farm in the UK.  

Members across the four nations who’ve signed up through co-operative developers Ripple Energy have been told they can save hundreds of pounds on their energy bills when power starts to flow.  The average predicted first year bill savings for the co-op’s 5,600 members is £269.

Conveniently sited within three-mile sight of turbine-hating Donald Trump’s golf franchise at the Turnberry resort, consumer-owned Kirk Hill will have the potential to power a nominal 20,000 households and businesses.

Its thousands of members from households and businesses across the UK part-own the assets, representing a new model of popular, non-corporate ownership of clean power set – or so Ripple’s founder Sarah Merrick believes –  to transform Britain’s transition to clean energy.

Co-op members control their individual investments on a one-person per vote basis via arms-length co-ordinators such as Ripple, and not according to the value of equity they inject.

Funded by £13.2 million of such small investments, Kirk Hill is the latest of the enterprise’s three schemes to come to market.

Its first, a single turbine at Graig Fatha in south Wales – pictured – became the UK’s first consumer owned wind farm when generation began in March 2022.  Its members are expected to save £977 on average off their energy bills this year.

Britain’s first solar park in shared community ownership, Derill Water Solar Park in Devon is the brand’s biggest project to date.  Costing over £20 million, the highest ever single share flotation raise in the history of UK co-operatives, Derill Water will pump its first current late next summer.

 A fourth project has opened for investor registration.

A recent study commissioned by Ripple found 67% of Scots voicing support for renewable projects in their area.  Over half – or 58% – say they are more likely to support a new local wind turbine or solar park if they had the opportunity to own part of it and lower their energy bills.

Ripple commissioned the research as part of its Generation YES initiative. This encourages Brits to say yes to renewable energy projects being developed in their locality and to support more clean power.

Merrick, Ripple Energy’s founder and CEO said: “Owned by 5,600 proud individuals who will benefit from the clean, low-cost energy generated by its turbines, Kirk Hill represents the future of green energy.

“There’s a sense of history being made here on the west coast of Scotland as construction gets underway, ” Merrick added.  “From the moment they left the factories and made their journey across the Mediterranean and into the Port of Ayr, our members have been avidly following their journey.

“The future is consumer-owned renewable energy, and thousands of people in the UK have already joined the movement.”

Interest declared: the author invests in several UK energy co-operatives.

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Brighton Energy, in which the current writer invests, announced it has raised its target £700,000 of new bonds within one month.    The debt issuance is believed to be among the largest ever completed by a UK energy co-operative.

Over 100 small investors contributed to Brighton Energy’s bond issuance, chair Will Cottrell told the benefit society’s members this morning.   Most are locals or from south east England, with others distributed across the UK.

With around 700kWp in the co-op’s pipeline, the latest bond issuance amounts to one pound for every unbuilt kilowatt of potential.

The cash will go towards a pipeline of solar PV projects on community roofs.   Work on Cardinal Newman School, a comprehensive in Hove, begins next week and will last over the summer holidays.

Early September will see a 360kWp system installed on roofs at Newhaven Port.  Array erection atop Shoreham Port’s facilities will round off the co-op’s latest round.

Thanking investors, BE chair Will Cottrell – centre in image – added: “ With more than 700kWp of new solar now in progress, it just shows what we can do when we act together”.

Most co-ops operate a business model whereby they raise money in stakes sometimes as small as £50 laid by private investors including locals. The funds go to instal solar- or wind-power equipment, whose output the co-ops sell, as legally established entities, to community organisations such as schools, and at a discount guaranteed over years to the host community enterprise.

On top of dividends paid to members, many co-ops devote a chunk of trading profits back into the community, either funding drop-in clinics advising on beating fuel poverty, supporting community groups, or giving cash to renovating facilities such as village halls.

Recent innovations in funding the sector have include operators such as Ripple Energy. This aggregrates small investors’ cash, allowing them to invest in multiple solar or wind projects across the nation, and at the same time.

“Roof-leasing” is the sole business model currently open for co-ops to raise revenues.  Direct sales to of their power to investors or local communities is prohibited under Ofgem’s licencing of suppliers.   Over half of all MPs now support reform having signed up to the principle of local sale of locally generated power, in response to campaigners at Power to People.

Interest declared: This writer invests in several UK volunteer-led energy co-ops, including in Brighton Energy.

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Funded from the regulator’s fines on licensed suppliers, the Redress Scheme has a total of £3 million on the table.

Local projects eligible to benefit include those supporting households most at risk from high energy bills, carbon emissions reduction projects ventures in England, Scotland and Wales, or those centring on innovative products and services related to home energy.

Charities and community energy groups – including community benefit societies, community interest companies, and co-operative can access one or more of four funding streams.

The streams are:

• £1.8 million in the Main Fund, benefitting vulnerable households with grants of between £50,000 and £250,000.
• £300,000 in the Small Project Fund, dispensing grants between £20,000 to £50,000 supporting similarly afflicted families.
• The £450,000 Innovation Fund, a seed nursery for product or service innovations doing good for  households. Grants are between £20,000 to £200,000.

• Also containing £450,000, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund,– aimed at projects empowering homes to reduce their carbon footprint.  Sums adanced are as for the Innovation Fund.

To apply, organisations need to be pre-registered by visiting the Energy Redress registration page.

Organisations that haven’t yet registered with the scheme must do so 10 working days before the relevant Fund closes to allow time for eligibility checks to take place.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 22 August 2023. To apply follow the instructions on the Energy Redress website.

In the five years to March, the Energy Redress Scheme supported 470 projects with £81 million in grants. Projects included:

• Boosting the uptake of whole-house retrofits
• Energy advice services supporting vulnerable people.
• Digital media to engage marginalised audiences with energy problems, including affordability
• Research into the energy needs of elderly people and disabled people

• Trialling new outreach or business models which enable households use more locally generated energy.

The Energy Saving Trust’s head of renewables Anthony Kyriakides said: “This latest round of funding will continue support for the positive and important work undertaken by charities in helping the most vulnerable households”.

“The funding will also support charities delivery of projects focused on achieving a Net Zero future and helping to ensure a just transition for as many people as possible.”

Ofgem collects voluntary payments from companies that may have breached Ofgem-administered rules. Energy Saving Trust manages the allocation of payments for the scheme, which has been in place for five years.

The scheme prioritises support for vulnerable energy consumers, the development of innovative products or services and the empowerment of consumers to reduce their carbon emissions.

For more, go to: energyredress.org.uk

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In 2023’s first three months Brighton Energy Co-op has allocated cash lingering on from the UK’s now vanished EU membership, passing it to ten Sussex firms to aid onsite generation with solar PV arrays.

In only one quarter enterprises including a tea importer, a carpet wholesaler and a conservation project have together gained around 1.5 MWp in PV capacity, generating an expected 1.43 million kWh for qualifying firms, located across the seaside city and its Sussex hinterland.

The allocation brings to 19 the number of firms to benefit from the co-op’s anticipatory application for solar grants, made by Brighton Energy in the dying days of this nation’s forty-seven year EU membership.

A further 15 solar projects are due to be completed by June, according to the co-op’s latest newsletter. It is due to pay out a further £300,000 of grants before October.

The cash comes from Brussels’ Regional Development Fund.  Brighton Energy worked with Sussex Local Enterprise Partnerships to distribute £25,000 packages under its Community Solar Accelerator programme, supporting up to 40% of a qualifying SME’s new rooftop installation.

“We often found that other businesses saw their neighbours using our grant to install solar panels on their roofs. Several of these neighbouring businesses then decided to install their own PV arrays even without our grant!”, Brighton Energy’s latest newsletter relates.

Last year the Brighton citizens brought to fruition their biggest ever PV project, a giant 0.57 MW set of arrays at Rathfinny Wine Estate, near Alfriston, pictured. Funded to the tune of £400,000 by around one hundred small investors, the project has been nominated by its installer Genfit for a regional energy efficiency award.

Now thirteen-years old, Brighton Energy has in its history raised £2.5 million for free PV on schools, from 500 local investors placing stakes from £300 upwards.

Its next project is assisting in continuing consultations aimed at setting up a community-focused energy benefit company on Crawley’s Manor Royal estate next to Gatwick Airport.

Read more about Brighton Energy here.  Interest declared: The present writer is a member of Brighton Energy.

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Community Energy London, which already counts 30 active citizen groups, last week met MPs and councillors at the House of Commons to launch its vision.

Solar and heat pumps this decade on that thousand buildings are just the start, says CEL.

City Hall researchers helping the umbrella group have picked out nearly 21,000 community-controlled roofs across the capital.  Half are suitable for solar PV, potential offering 1.3 GW of generating capacity.  Heat pumps & other sources could adorn the rest.

Campaigners claim that level of deployment could keep around 350,000 of London’s homes lit and heated.

Every one of the 21,000 sites will need to be turned into hubs for small-scale generation, say CEL, if London’s Mayor is to meet his Net Zero by 2030 goal.   Even the lesser target implies turning 30 roofs in every borough into a mini-power station.

Along with volunteers elsewhere in across Britain, most of CEL’s neighbourhood-based groups periodically raise sums from £20,000 to £500,000 from friends, neighbours & parents to put clean generation equipment on schools, libraries or health clinics.  A majority direct cash too into volunteer-delivered services, advising Londoners on mastering their rocketing fuel bills.

Deepening technical co-operation with City Hall has seen umbrella body CEL pick from the out of the city’s datasets roofs with most renewables potential, or structures linking into district heat networks.

A unique resource now being perfected, CE London’s Potential Map has offered up the 21,000 long-list, tying together location datasets like London’s Solar Opportunity Map, the London Building Stock Model and the capital’s Heat Map.

The Potential Map is the treasure chest for CEL’s ‘Vision for Community Energy in London’.

Adding to dividend-earning investments made by small investors, a growing minority of far-sighted boroughs are also stumping up cash. Haringey, Southwark, Brent and Hackney head the list.

Out-topping all as a financial mainstay is the London Community Energy Fund, controlled from City Hall.

Now just finishing its sixth round of grants, the LCEF has targeted poorer pockets of the capital, breathing life into 129 projects across all but six boroughs.  A total of 2.8 MW of PV panels, nearly two football fields-worth, have resulted since 2017.

From Mayor Khan’s viewpoint, the co-ops’ activism is a trailblazer towards the total £75 billion of private & public investment which City Hall officials reckon he’ll need to meet the 2030 deadline.

Six key actions are needed to keep CE London on track towards those 1,000 roofs, its leaders believe:

• Continued support from the London Community Energy Fund
• Working closer with boroughs
• Spreading recognition of community energy’s benefits in cohesion & neighbourhood building
• Unlocking the potential of Londoners to invest in community energy
• A new national strategy for Community Energy

Read CEL’s Vision document here. To attend CE London’s next online meeting this Thursday 23 March, contact co-ordinator Katherine Linsley.

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