Garve and District Community Energy Project Phase 2 July 2016 Nick - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Garve and District Community Energy Project – Phase 2

July 2016 Nick Chapman & Marion O’Hara Community Energy Scotland

Outline

• About Community Energy Scotland
• Project Overview
• Project Elements

– Community Energy Group – Home Energy – Hydro Scheme – Community Woodfuel

• Conclusion and Next Steps
• Learning Exchange to Ullapool Community Trust and

Fintry Development Trust

Community Energy Scotland

• National Independent Scottish

Charity

• Main office in Inverness, with

staff based across Scotland, including Orkney and Western Isles.

• 8 years old, previously part of

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

• Membership-based, with over

400 community energy members.

• Supported over 600 community

energy project

Our mission: “To build confidence, resilience and wealth at a community level through sustainable energy development”

Project Overview

The project is funded by Lochluichart Community Trust and delivered by Community Energy Scotland in partnership with members of local community. The project ran from October 2015 to July 2016, led back Nick Chapman and Marion O’Hara from Community Energy Scotland. Throughout the project our work has been directed by the Garve and District Community Energy steering group. The project seeks to lay the foundation for a community energy movement in the Garve and District area, by establishing a local community energy group and carrying out scoping studies into a number of different community energy

• pportunities.

We have made sure that any proposals put forward are as equitable as possible, so that everyone in the community has equal opportunity to benefit from future LCT funding that supports community energy.

Project Elements

1. Set up a local community energy group 2. Assess the opportunities to improve home energy 3. Review the options to develop a community hydro scheme 4. Explore the opportunities to establish local community woodfuel projects

Setting up a community energy group

• Set-up a new organisation called “Garve and

District Community Energy” (GDCE), led by a local steering group:

– John Fenwick (chair) – Sue Tarr – John Bedwell – Laura McWhinney

• The group is not yet constituted since we are

waiting for the outcome of the Community Needs Survey. A new Development Trust may be formed following this survey, which could take forward energy projects.

• We believe that LCT funds (or other local funds)

should be used to employ a local Development Officer who can help deliver development projects (including energy projects) and seek external funding.

New Organisation in Garve and District

This rough diagram was produced during a GDCE steering group meeting and shows some of the new structures and

• rganisations which could help deliver local projects

Home Energy

• Two letters were sent directly to all

households in December 2015 and February 2016 to publicise the Home Energy Visits

• Two Open Energy Events held, in

Garve Village Hall in January and Achnasheen Village Hall in March, attended by around 22 people.

• Between January – June 2016 a total
• f 28 people signed up for a Home

Energy Visit (24 completed so far).

Home Energy Open event at Garve Village Hall

All residents have been offered a free Home Energy Visit through ‘Home Energy Scotland’ to assess energy usage and identify suitable energy efficiency and renewable energy measures.

Home Energy Referrals and Advice

• Home Energy Visits also assessed residents in terms of their eligibility for

national and regional home energy programmes.

• This resulted in the following referrals:

– 1 Warmer Homes referral resulting in the installation of a new oil boiler – 1 referral to HEEPS-ABS for External/Solid Wall Insulation – 1 referral to Highland Council regional scheme for double-glazing – 1 referral to ECO for Cavity Wall Insulation with RDI Renewable Ltd – 1 referral for Home Renewable Loan for Biomass Boiler

• We estimate that the total value of external funding received for these

referrals will be in the order of £15,000 (not including biomass boiler which is supported by zero interest loan).

• Home energy visits also provided advice on energy saving

– “ It was great to meet you…there were a few surprises when you were telling me things I didn't know, such as my hot water tank insulation being insufficient…Added to this, the amount I spend on petrol and oil each year I now realise how much of my income is simply for fuel.” – Local Resident

Current Energy Usage

• On average, homes in Garve and District

use 24% more energy than the UK average

• Most people heat their home using oil and

electricity, which can be more expensive and polluting than renewables

• 80% of homes have a log burning stove
• We estimate that the whole community

spends around £263,000 per year on energy and emits over 1000 tonnes of carbon.

• At the moment nearly all of this money

flows out of the community, but this could change if the community energy projects are developed...

Outcomes from the Home Energy Visits were shared with Community Energy Scotland to identify opportunities for a local home energy scheme that could be supported by wind farm income. Of those homes visited, results show that:

Diversity in Energy Usage

• The highest energy users in Garve and District use 7 time more energy than the
• lowest. This disparity is caused by differences in property size, energy efficiency,

average inside temperature and occupancy

• Some lower energy users are currently under-heating their homes due to the high

cost of energy, poor insulation and inefficient heating system. This can have implications for both the health of the householder and the fabric of the property.

Low energy consumers The assumption is that these homes may likely be under-heated. Installing measures is therefore likely to improve warmth and comfort levels within these household. High energy consumers Some of these homes are likely to have poor energy efficiency levels. Installing measures is likely to reduce their energy bills and carbon emissions within these households.

Impact of Biomass Boilers

• Homes #7 and #17 are

heated using biomass boilers.

• Carbon emission can be

reduced by around 80%

• Biomass boilers and
• ther renewable heating

technologies can access the ‘Renewable Heat Incentive’ (RHI) subsidy, which makes this technology cheaper than

• il and traditional

electric heating.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Opportunities

• Across the whole community, we

estimate that around 900 energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements could be made to homes

• Most common measures include:

– Floor insulation – Solid wall insulation – Low energy lighting – Double glazing

• The total cost of doing this would be

around £2.9M and the annual benefit to the community (lower bills and renewable energy income) would be in the order of £250,000 per year.

• The net benefit to the community

after 20 years could be around £1.3M

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Floor insulation Solid wall insulation Low energy lights Double glazing Upgrade boiler Heating controls Solar thermal Loft Insulation Solar PV Draught proofing Roof insulation Biomass boiler boilers Hot water cylinder insulation Waste water heat recovery Air source heat pumps Insulated doors Wood stove Storage heaters Cavity wall insulation

Investment in Renewable Heating

• Rather than investing in all possible improvements, the community could focus of

renewable heat technology such as: biomass boilers (25 recommendation), wood burning stoves (17), electric heat pumps (17) and solar thermal panels (51)

• These technologies receive RHI subsidy for the first 7 years after installation
• The total capital cost would be around £700k and the annual benefit to the

community would be £130k.

• Over 20 years the community could expect a net benefit of around £600,000

Investment in Low Cost Measures

• What if investment were made only in low cost measures, such as low energy

lighting (84 installations), draught proofing (34) and hot water cylinder insulation (25)?

• The total cost would only be around £10k and the annual savings would be about

£6k

• Over 20 years the community could save around £137k, over ten times the initial

investment.

Implementing a Home Energy Scheme

• Income from the Lochluichart and Corriemoillie wind farms could be

used to support a local Home Energy Scheme, which would help residents improve the energy efficiency of their homes

• A local Home Energy Scheme would require the following two

elements:

– Home Energy Advice - to help households identify suitable energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, as well as helping to co-

• rdinate the work required to be carried out.

– Financial support – to make it easier for residents to afford improvement measures and to remove the barrier of high up-front costs.

• The Home Energy Scheme should be equitable so that all those in the

community can benefit, regardless of tenure, house design or financial situation. This will likely involve significant landlord engagement.

• It should also be accessible so that the scheme is easy to understand

and simple for residents to access.

Home Energy Advice

• The Home Energy Scheme should involve local

energy volunteers who can help residents with:

– Carrying out home visits to identify improvements – Arranging for professional home energy surveys – Installing simple measures (such as energy-efficient light bulbs and draught proofing) – Co-ordination of contractors and getting quotes – Applying for local and national financial support schemes. – Helping residents switch to a cheaper or greener energy tariff. – Making referrals to Home Energy Scotland for national and regional support.

• The scheme should work closely with Home

Energy Scotland

• Ideally coordinated by a paid local

Development Officer or other organisation.

Financial Support

• Income from the local wind farms may be used to help residents

financially in several ways:

– Rebate payments on energy bills – a new scheme to replace the £250 rebate deal which was closed last year – Free low cost energy efficiency measures – a scheme to offer all residents free measures which can be installed by householders, such as low energy lighting, draught proofing and hot water cylinder insulation – Grants – we recommend offering grant from £500 to £5,000 to reduce the cost of higher cost energy efficiency and renewable energy measures – Energy Service Company (ESCo) – set up a local community organisation which owns and installs renewable energy technologies in homes at no cost to residents.

• A range of types of financial support are recommended so that everyone

has the opportunity to benefit.

• Local Finance should try to be combined with national and regional

support programmes

Grant Scheme

• Grants should be made available over a significant time period (perhaps 5

years) and budgeted so that all households can benefit.

• The approximate cost for running £500, £2,000 and £5,000 grant schemes

are shown below.

Grant size Total capital budget for whole community (177 homes) Annual budget

• ver 5 years (~35

households per year) Fixed annual administration cost

• ver 5 years

Total annual cost

• ver

5 years £500 £88,500 £19,000 £3,700 £22,700 £2,000 £354,000 £70,800 £3,700 £74,500 £5,000 £885,000 £177,000 £7,350 £184,350

Energy Service Company (ESCo)

• The ESCo owns and maintains renewable energy technologies which are

installed in people’s homes

• GDCE receives subsidy payments, whilst the householder receives

cheaper or free heat or electricity

• No upfront cost to households
• Significant time, expertise and finance required by the ESCo. Therefore it

is unlikely that this approach could be implemented immediately.

Cheap Heat/Electricity

ESCo Ownership

FIT/RHI Subsidy

Community Renewable Energy Projects

• The Garve and District community

could develop their own renewable energy project which can sell electricity to the grid and receive the Feed-In-Tariff subsidy

• This project could generate a long-

term revenue stream for the community which extends beyond the 20 year Lochluichart Wind Farm

• Several hundred communities in

Scotland have developed renewable energy projects, so there is lots of experience and help out there

• Community and Renewable

Energy Scheme (CARES) can offer up to £10,000 grants and £150,000 loans for community energy projects.

Applecross Hydro – complete November 2015 Ullapool Hydro – currently looking for investment Dingwall Wind – complete 2015

Case Study Video – Hockerton Community Wind Turbine, Nottinghamshire

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qiRk7TqgO 90?autoplay=1&rel=0

Case Study Video – Intro to Hydro, Abernethy Turst

https://vimeo.com/17892737

Hydro in Garve and District

• We assessed four potential hydro sites in the Garve and District area, based on: land
• wnership, technical potential, environmental aspects, grid connection, access tracks

and existing hydro developments.

• All sites are on National Forest Estate land, as this may be easier to access than land
• wned by private estates.
• Two of the sites we looked at (#1 and #2 below) are already being investigated by
• ther developers, although there may be opportunities for the community to invest

in these schemes.

1) Kirknewton Community Development Trust

• KCDT have rights to develop a ~100kW hydro scheme at Allt Riabhach and

Allt na Bana-mhorair, costing around £680,000

• We held a meeting with KCDT in March 2016 to discuss opportunities for

local community investment.

• Unfortunately, due to recent Feed-In Tariff reductions, the scheme is

currently deemed to be financially unviable

• This has been validated through our own financial modelling, shown below:

2) Vento Ludens (VL)

• VL have rights to develop a hydro

scheme on the Allt a Garbh-Bhaid and Allt a’ Bhealaich Mhòir.

• The scheme has a 7km2 catchment area

and 150m head, which could achieve around 400kW and cost around £2M.

• We believe the scheme could be viable

under the right conditions

• VL are currently carrying out flow

monitoring on Allt a Garbh-Bhaid and the viability of scheme will not be known until this has been completed (around Autumn 2016)

• There could be an opportunity for

community to take a share of this project, although VL wishes to maintain a majority share.

Combining KCDT and VL Sites

• We investigated the option of

combining the KCDT and LV sites into a single larger scheme using low pressure pipes to connect the four burns

• 16km2 catchment, 150m head,

1.1MW, and costing around £3M

• Economic analysis suggests that

under certain circumstances the scheme could be economically viable.

• However, it may be difficult to
• btain an abstraction licence and

would require VL and KCDT to hand

• ver their development rights to

the community

3) Abhainn Srath Rainich

• After detailed discussion with SEPA, we

discovered that significant water abstraction is happening further upstream to supply Loch Vaich. This reduces the effective catchment area from 29km2 to 7.2km2 .

• Head height is 80m and power capacity

around 250kW.

• High cost of around £1.5M due to long

2.5km penstock (pipe), making the scheme economically marginal.

• Also, there is a high probably that an

abstraction licence would not be granted due to existing abstraction on the burn.

4) Black Water

• A low-head scheme, such as an

Archemedies screw turbine, could be installed on Blackwater.

• Based on the average flow of

4.855m2 per second, we estimate that a 50kW scheme could be installed.

• Capital costs are likely to be high

(~£0.5M ) due to lack of existing weirs and width of river, making this

• ptions economically unviable

under current conditions.

• There are also likely to be planning

issues due to the scenic area of the river.

Black Water, Garve Stockport Community Hydro

Community Woodfuel

• Around 80% of households in Garve and

District have a wood burning stove and a large proportion of home could benefit from a biomass boiler upgrade.

• Currently we believe that many people

have to look outside of G&D to purchase woodfuel

• A local community woodfuel supply

business could offer cheaper and higher quality woodfuel to local people, generate local employment and improve the environmental quality of local woodland through better management.

• There are already over 200 community

woodland projects in Scotland, many of which are focused on woodfuel supply

Case Study - The Appleton-le-Moor Woodfuel, North Yorkshire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ_a- TUDiNw

Case Study – Knoydart Woodfuel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAG_8Vdz22o

Demand for Woodfuel

• We estimate that the

community currently consumes around 200 tones of woodfuel each year at a cost

• f around £20,000
• This could rise around £83,000

if all homes were heated by wood.

• Most people have log burning

stoves, but demand for wood pellets could increase if more biomass boilers are installed

Woodfuel Resource

• Currently the community requires

around 30ha (74 acres) of conifer woodland to be rotationally thinned and harvested to support woodfuel demand

• If all houses were heated by wood,

98ha (242 acres) would be needed

• Garve has around 50 times more

woodland than is required to heat all homes.

• The majority of woodland is owned

by Forestry Commission Scotland

Woodfuel Business

• A community woodfuel project will

need to decide which areas of the supply chain it wants to be involved in.

• Possible business models include:

– Bulk-buying group – Woodfuel processing – Woodland thinning and management

• The project should aim to work

wherever possible with existing local suppliers in the area

• It will also need to be registered on the

Biomass Suppliers List if it is to supply biomass boilers which receive the RHI.

Community Woodfuel Organisation

Conclusion and Next Steps

• We hope this feasibility study serves as a foundation for GDCE and the

wider community to take forward future community energy initiatives

• The report has demonstrated significant opportunity for local economic,

environmental and social benefits if investment is made now in community energy projects

• For example, for every £1 invested in renewable heating technology, the

community could expect to receive back around £2 over the lifetime of the

• installations. If for every £1 invested a further £1 can be leveraged from

nation home energy schemes, then we estimate that the community could receive more like £4 back for every pound invested.

• Overall, by using local wind farm funds effectively, we believe that there is

a very significant opportunity for Garve and District to become a pioneer in local community energy generation, environmental housing, sustainable transport and tackling fuel poverty

Conclusion and Next Steps

Community Group

• GCDE is currently volunteer based and would value from a paid development officer to take forward projects
• Require continued financial support and advice to deliver local projects
• Will work with G&D Community Council in potential creation of new Development Organisation

Home Energy

• Work with LCT to consider local contribution towards development of Garve and District Home Energy Scheme
• Visit Fintry Development Trust to learn about their home energy project
• Recruit a number of Home Energy Volunteers who can help deliver home energy support

Hydro Scheme

• KCDT’s hydro scheme and all others apart from VL’s site are probably not viable on economic and environmental

grounds

• The VL scheme could be viable and, if so, there may be opportunity for community investment.
• GDCE should access support through CARES if they want to take renewable energy projects further

Woodfuel Project

• Engage more with residents to gauge demand for a local woodfuel scheme and assess current market
• Work with Forestry Commission Scotland to explore opportunities to access their woodland and timber
• Visit Loch Broom Woodfuel to lean about what they have done

Visit to Fintry Development Trust!

• We have secured funding for a small number of people to visit Fintry

Development Trust (FDT), near Stirling. Travel, accommodation and expenses will be covered.

• FDT are widely recognised as one of the most pioneering and successful

community energy group in Scotland. Since 2007 they have been using income from a nearby wind turbine to support projects to reduce energy bills and cut carbon emissions, include home energy efficiency, home renewables, biomass district heating and community woodfuel.

• Please let us know if you would like to come on this visit, which is scheduled to

take place in August 2016.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRA4fGg6ZvE (news piece in 2006)

Thank you

Garve & District Community Energy Project webpage: http://www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk/garve-and-district-community- energy.asp Lochluichart Community Trust: http://www.lochluichartcommunitytrust.com/

Community Energy Scotland details: info@communityenergyscotland.org.uk 01463 417 104 www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk