Kelsale-cum-Carlton Community Energy (Power4KcC) Presentation for - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presentation for Community Energy meeting - Walpole Kelsale-cum-Carlton Community Energy (Power4KcC)

Geoff Fordham & Keith Dickerson Monday, 1 September 2014

This presentation

2

• The background
• Choosing a project
• The first project
• The process
• The results
• Some reflections

The background

• December 2011: Local Energy

Assessment Fund (LEAF)

• £60k for feasibility and demonstration

projects:

• Household survey
• Energy audits
• Solid wall insulation demonstrations
• Feasibility studies on wind, solar PV, biomass,

ground source heat pumps, etc

• Parish council sub-committee formed to

execute

3

Why Community Owned Energy?

• Help reduce impact of rising fuel bills:
• For community facilities and…
• …perhaps villagers struggling with fuel

bills

• Securing more stable supply
• Demonstrate the potential of renewables
• Offer potential return for investors – and…
• …maybe some funds for village activities

4

Why a co-op?

• Community-owned and shareholdings open to

all – Individuals and Organisations (e.g. VHMC, Suffolk County Council)

• Maximum shareholding - £20,000 per individual
• All decisions ...controlled by the membership
• Flexibility to allocate surplus to:
• Shareholders OR
• Community benefit OR
• Mix of two
• All members get one vote irrespective of value
• f shareholding

5

How our co-op works

• Membership:
• Minimum required is 1 share of £20
• Individual investments up to 1000 shares
• Currently 107 shareholders!
• Board elected by membership
• Maybe some paid admin help in future?
• All decisions taken by membership and

executed by Board

• AGM decides value of dividend to be issued

6

Choosing a project

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• Criteria: affordable, non-controversial,

demonstrable community benefit

• Preferred project: Kelsale primary school
• Next best option: village hall…
• …but Grade II* listed,
• …highly shaded backyard,
• …so – ground mounted in adjacent field

The first project: Power for the Village Hall

8

How does it work?

• 32 Solar PV panels in field behind Village Hall
• Cable feed to separate meters in Village Hall

and Social Club

9

Costs and returns

• Competitive tender - 3 bids received
• East Green Energy won
• 32 Phono Solar PS250M PV modules
• …combined with 32 Enphase micro-inverters
• Installed capacity: 8 kW
• Annual Output: 6,862 kWh (units)
• Total Costs: ~£17.5K including installation
• Estimated Income (FIT + export): £1,426/year
• Estimated CO2 savings: 3,212 kg/year
• Return on capital: 3-4% (after depreciation,

insurance, maintenance etc)

10

Benefits to Village Hall

• Village Hall gets free day time electricity
• Social Club gets half price electricity
• Initial 3 year agreement with each
• afterwards at discretion of AGM
• Opportunity to join co-op
• + get seat on Board?
• Help with securing £15K grant (matched

funding) from SCC to:

• improve loft insulation
• install secondary glazing
• install storage heaters

11

The process and timing

• Planning application submitted – 14 January 2014
• SCDC approval – 22 April 2014
• Ofgem pre-registration applied for – 28 March 2014
• approval to use 2013/14 FIT – 19 May 2014
• Co-op (IPS) registered with FCA – 28 March 2014
• Interim Board of Directors – 13 April 2014
• Share prospectus issued – 8 May 2014
• £17,500 received – 18 July 2014 Decision to Proceed
• Solar Arrays installed / commissioned – 18 August 2014
• Now producing >100 kWh per week
• Inaugural AGM – September 2014
• to formally elect Directors
• First AGM – Summer 2015
• to agree first dividend

12

Screwing in the supports

13

Digging the trench

14

1st array with inverters in place

15

Enphase micro-inverter on each panel

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2nd array with panels in place

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The grand opening

18

Some further projects…

• 2nd phase of Solar PV for Village Hall?
• Approval for up to 20kW from UKPN
• Solar PV on cowshed roof at East Green?
• Have to examine economics
• Wind turbine at East Green?
• Up to 50kW – economics better with larger projects
• Biomass boiler for primary school?
• 3-4 year payback?
• Solar PV on pensioners' cottages?
• Renting roof space from people who want solar PV

but can't afford it?

• Buying in energy in bulk from the big

suppliers?

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Some reflections

• Overcoming conservatism
• Conundrum: inclusivity vs scale of project:

£250 minimum investment is standard

• Therefore – appropriate geographic scale:

county-wide co-ops?

• Gloucestershire
• Hampshire
• Leicestershire
• Definition of co-op: new FCA interpretation
• Role of local authorities: shareholders? (see

Localism Act)