Low Carbon Energy Futures workshop Alison Lax Project Manager – Low Carbon Communities

Purpose of this workshop ● 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 ● Local Information for example Community, Neighbourhood and Parish Plans ● Local support for this work ● Local information for example from landowners

Focus for the workshop ● 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 ● Basic introductions to Renewable Energy technologies ● Renewable Electricity ● Renewable Heat ● Common community ideas about RE projects ● Opportunities in the local area

Hydro power

Solar Power ● Solar Photovoltaic panels ● Solar Thermal panels

Heat Pumps ● Ground Source heat pumps (GSHPs) ● Air Source heat pumps (ASHPs)

Biomass

Anaerobic Digestion

Wind Power

Energy Efficiency options ● Domestic properties ● Community buildings ● Draught proofing ● Switching energy bills ● Collective purchasing

Benefits of Community Energy ● 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 ● Comprehensive coverage of all elements of Community Energy ● Demonstrates clear Government support for Community Energy projects ● Addresses the following issues: ● Generating energy (electricity or heat) ● Reducing energy use (saving energy through energy efficiency or behaviour change) ● Managing energy (balancing supply and demand) ● Purchasing energy (collective purchasing or switching to save money)

Opportunities for communities? ● Government's Community Energy Strategy ● Community Interest ● Ongoing local support – local councils / other organisations etc ● Landowner interest ● Funding available

Challenges? ● Community capacity ● 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? ● Critical question to answer very honestly ● Not just about the money ● Its about time

Funding opportunities ● Feed In Tariff (electricity) ● Renewable Heat Incentive (heat) ● Rural Community Energy fund (RCEF) ● Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF) ● Community funding ● Crowd funding ● Community share issues

Rural/ Urban Community Energy Fund (R/UCEF) ● Government funded programmes ● Aims of the funds ● Enable communities to access benefit of renewable energy schemes ● Support communities to maximise income from RE and use this to work for their communities ● Help move towards the governments target for RE and commitment to promote community owned RE schemes ● 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) ● 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) ● Who can apply? ● Legally constituted community organisations, for example Community Interest Company, Industrial Provident Society, Parish Council ● What type of technology? ● 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? ● Professional services – NOT for capital expenditure on kit

RCEF Stage Two Loan (1) ● 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) ● 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 ● Project management

R/UCEF Stage Two Loan (3) ● 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 ● Community Energy England ● Peer mentoring support ● Local Renewable Energy companies and consultants

Support for Cumbrian Communities ● Sustain Eden Community Support via CAfS staff ● Cumbria Community Renewables Fund ● Rural Cumbria Connects consortium ● Cumbria Community Renewable Energy Conference – January 31 st 2015 Penrith

For more information about RCEF please visit and-guidance-rcef For more information about UCEF please visit fund For more information on Community Energy England, please visit For further Information about CAfS support for communities in Eden, please contact For further information about Rural Cumbria Connects consortium please contact Reiver Renewables on

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