Community Renewables - Now it's for Everyone!

Don't get me wrong, nothing pleases me more than seeing a solar panel or small wind turbine on someone's roof. Getting your own renewable energy generation installed is fantastic if you can, but many people are put off by the cost, planning concerns, opposition from neighbours etc. Or, like me, you might live in a flat with a contract saying you can't alter anything on the outside of your building. But fear not, I want to tell you about a way everyone can now generate some renewable energy, by working together with like-minded individuals.

I really believe that wind, in particular, has the potential to be a major part of the energy mix in the UK. It's a proven technology, it's available now and it's totally renewable! However, as I found out when I tried installing a small wind charger on my parents' house, small-scale urban generation doesn't really cut the mustard! Sure it looked cool, but the amount of power it produced was negligible. Photovoltaics were an option, but an expensive one. It seemed that anything that was capable of generating any serious amount of power was out of my price range. Then I found out about the fantastic work of Energy4All, and the wind co-ops they have helped to create.

How it all started...

Community renewable generation in the UK has really taken off in the last decade, especially in the wind farm department. It all started back in 1996, when a group of concerned local people in Cumbria decided they wanted to promote the generation of renewable energy and energy conservation. They became the Baywind Energy Cooperative, based on the cooperative models successfully pioneered in Scandinavia. Over 1,300 people signed up to buy a total of two million shares in the project, and have been rewarded with a competitive return on their investment from the sale of electricity. Due to the variable nature of wind, returns vary from year to year, but in 2007 Baywind members were paid an impressive yearly dividend of 10% gross (including an EIS government tax break). Not bad at all by today's standards!

See Baywind's yearly returns here

Watch a short video about Baywind here

How it grew...

In 2002/2003, to continue their aim of promoting community wind farms, Baywind established the development company Energy4All. Energy4All has pioneered numerous community wind projects throughout England and Scotland, including:

Westmill Wind Farm - Oxfordshire
Fenland - Lincolnshire
Boyndie Airfield - Aberdeenshire
Ben Aketil - Isle of Skye
Great Glen - Invergarry, Highlands
Kilbraur - Brora, Sutherland, Highlands

These sites now generate enough green electricity to power thousands of homes, and there are plenty more in the pipeline too. For a full list of past and future projects check out their website

How you can get involved

There are several new wind co-ops currently in the making, and you can become a stakeholder for as little as £250. However, if you can afford to buy £500 worth of shares or more you can often qualify for the Government's EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) tax relief. This lets you claim back 20% of your initial investment, and boosts the yearly dividend you will receive. So if you invest £500, you can claim back £100, assuming you've paid that much tax. It's also worth noting that Energy4All co-ops give preference to local residents when issuing shares, but don't let that put you off if you're not next door to one. I am a member of Westmill and Fenland, and am not that close to either to be honest. Look out for news about the proposed Reeves Hill wind farm in Herefordshire and the Gartree wind farm in Leicestershire, as these will probably be the next ones to offer a share issue. You can register your interest at the Energy4All website, to receive the latest news about opportunities to invest in new wind co-ops.

Or if you are even braver, why not consider setting up your own local renewable energy co-op? Energy4All has a website specifically aimed at helping people to set up community wind projects: www.energysteps.coop/

Of course wind isn't the only solution. There are plenty of other ways of making renewable energy locally: a PV array on a community centre roof, a micro-hydro generator on the local river, an anaerobic digester or whatever else is appropriate in your community. If you get enough people together to support your scheme you might just get permission to do it!

My experience and opinions

I really believe that community renewable energy generation projects are a great thing. They produce zero-carbon power, they bring the benefits and a share of the profits to the local community, and they are more efficient than smaller-scale generators. This is partly because of economies of scale: the larger the wind turbine you purchase, the more kilowatts you can produce for each pound invested. Also there's less duplication of infrastructure when a group of people invest in one big solution ie you only need one grid tie inverter, charge regulator, set of cabling etc rather than each person having to get these installed in their home. I have also really enjoyed attending the AGM meetings, and getting to chat with other members of the co-op. You don't have to participate in the social side at all if you don't want to, but I really enjoy meeting like-minded people and exchanging ideas. Getting to visit and touch the turbines you've invested in is a pretty special feeling too.

See a video of the Westmill turbines I made at the AGM 14/13/2009

The bottom line...

According to the British Wind Energy Association's figures, around 1,780kW (rated) of wind energy is enough to power an average UK home. To get a share of a community wind farm output equivalent to this you will need to invest just under £2,500 (approx), whereas a roof-mounted PV installation would cost around £10,000 for the same amount of power!

I really hope this article has stoked your interest in community renewable generation! I will conclude with a quote from Tony Juniper (ex Executive Director of Friends of the Earth):

‘How can I stop climate change? I can't, but we can!'

Sam

Top photo (c) Westmill Wind Farm 2009

Bottom 2 photos (c) Sam 2009

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