Transcript Sustain Eden

Low Carbon Energy
Futures workshop
Alison Lax
Project Manager – Low Carbon
Communities
Purpose of this
workshop
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To begin to explore the
opportunities that exist for
Community Energy Projects in your
community
To start to think about what needs
to be done to progress any of
these options
Introductions
Background
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Local Information for example
Community, Neighbourhood and Parish
Plans
Local support for this work
Local information for example from
landowners
Focus for the workshop
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Energy efficiency and / or
Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy Technologies
Options for Energy efficiency
Opportunities for a Community
Energy project
Challenges for communities
Support available
Next steps
Renewable Energy
Options
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Basic introductions to Renewable
Energy technologies
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Renewable Electricity
Renewable Heat
Common community ideas about RE
projects
Opportunities in the local area
Hydro power
Solar Power
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Solar Photovoltaic panels
Solar Thermal panels
Heat Pumps
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Ground Source heat pumps (GSHPs)
Air Source heat pumps (ASHPs)
Biomass
Anaerobic Digestion
Wind Power
Energy Efficiency
options
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Domestic properties
Community buildings
Draught proofing
Switching energy bills
Collective purchasing
Benefits of Community
Energy
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Develop solutions to meet local need
and involve local people
Put communities in control of the
energy they use and help maintain
energy security and tackle climate
change
Wider social and economic benefits
Government commitment via first
Community Energy Strategy Jan 2014
Tackle challenges more effectively
than government alone
Community Energy
Strategy
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Comprehensive coverage of all
elements of Community Energy
Demonstrates clear Government
support for Community Energy
projects
Addresses the following issues:
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Generating energy (electricity or heat)
Reducing energy use (saving energy
through energy efficiency or behaviour
change)
Managing energy (balancing supply and
demand)
Opportunities for
communities?
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Government's Community Energy
Strategy
Community Interest
Ongoing local support – local
councils / other organisations etc
Landowner interest
Funding available
Challenges?
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Community capacity
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Who is going to do the work?
Do you have the expertise in your
community?
Site / land ownership
Statutory consents
Funding (more to follow)
What capacity do we
have to take on a
project like this?
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Critical question to answer very
honestly
Not just about the money
Its about time
Funding opportunities
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Feed In Tariff (electricity)
Renewable Heat Incentive (heat)
Rural Community Energy fund (RCEF)
Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF)
Community funding
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Crowd funding
Community share issues
Rural/ Urban Community
Energy Fund (R/UCEF)
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Government funded programmes
Aims of the funds
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Enable communities to access benefit of renewable energy schemes
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Support communities to maximise income from RE and use this to
work for their communities
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Help move towards the governments target for RE and commitment
to promote community owned RE schemes
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Removing barriers, for example up front costs of feasibility
work and getting an investment ready business plan
RCEF open to Communities in England with less than 10,000
population
UCEF open to Communities in England with more than 10,000
population
Two Stages
Stage 1 – applications for grant for Initial Feasibility Study
Stage 2 – applications for loan to progress planning and permitting
applications and to secure finance/grants/investment for
development
Five communities in Cumbria already have stage one funding in place
Lots of interest elsewhere
R/UCEF Stage One
Grant(1)
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Initial Feasibility Grant For those communities at
an early stage of exploring the possibility of a
renewable energy
grants of up to a maximum of £20,000
covers consultancy and professional costs for the
development of an initial feasibility report in a
standard format
The work undertaken at this stage will identify
whether there is an appropriate technology for the
area in which the community is situated, and
suitable land available on which to develop it.
Groups will also begin to understand the likely
level of demand from the community, appraise the
likelihood of gaining planning consent and develop
an initial financial forecast.
R/UCEF Stage One
Grant(2)
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Who can apply?
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What type of technology?
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Legally constituted community organisations, for
example Community Interest Company, Industrial
Provident Society, Parish Council
Wind, hydro, solar PV / Thermal, Ground and Air
source heat pumps, Anaerobic Digestion, Biomass, Gas
combined heat and power
Community Benefit and Support
What can be funded?
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Professional services – NOT for capital expenditure
on kit
RCEF Stage Two Loan (1)
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Once you have a successful feasibility
study and support from your community for
your project you can progress to stage
two
RCEF offers a loan of up to £130,000 to
progress ideas to submitting planning and
permitting applications, and to secure
finance/grants/investment for development
Loan is repayable (with a premium) if all
consents and finance are secured
R/UCEF Stage Two Loan
(2)
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A Stage Two Loan would cover:
● Detailed investigation into the chosen
technology
● Securing a site (legal fees for
example)
● Environmental Impact Assessments
● full planning applications
● Permitting applications (abstraction
licences for example)
● Developing a full investment business
plan and seeking finance
R/UCEF Stage Two Loan
(3)
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For projects which achieve planning
permission and attract capital
investment the loan will be
repayable, with a premium, once
finance has been secured.
If the project cannot, for genuine
reasons, be taken forward then
loans maybe written off.
Support for North West
Communities
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Community Energy England
Peer mentoring support
Local Renewable Energy companies
and consultants
Support for Cumbrian
Communities
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Sustain Eden Community Support via
CAfS staff
Cumbria Community Renewables Fund
Rural Cumbria Connects consortium
Cumbria Community Renewable Energy
Conference – January 31st 2015
Penrith
For more information about RCEF please visit
http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/applicationand-guidance-rcef
For more information about UCEF please visit
https://www.gov.uk/urban-community-energyfund
For more information on Community Energy
England, please visit
http://communityenergyengland.org/
For further Information about CAfS support
for communities in Eden, please contact
[email protected]
For further information about Rural Cumbria
Connects consortium please contact Reiver
Renewables on [email protected]
THANK YOU