Case studies 2018 - 2019

Summary of project 

This project explored what a well-funded, socially just approach, to energy efficiency schemes in context of fuel poverty could look like. It involved research, engagement with stakeholders to produce a toolkit that can be used by any developer of a large scale energy efficiency scheme.

How ENWL supported the scheme

Electricity North West awarded Carbon Coop £14,720 from the Powering our Communities Fund to enable them to carry out the research.

Why is the project community energy?

Carbon Coop’s Warm Homes for All project will be driven by the local community. It will support local energy efficiency schemes and it will help generate and retain investment within the local community. Engagement with the end-customers, the local authority and supply chain is key to its successful delivery.

Who would find this useful information?

Local authorities, housing associations, contractors, communities and other partners involved in large scale energy efficiency schemes for domestic properties.

 

 

What is the project hoping to achieve?

This project produced a toolkit to guide scheme managers in understanding the ‘resident-client’ experience of energy efficiency schemes.  The aim of the toolkit is to make it easy for organisations to design and implementing these schemes to ensure projects are user-centred.

This project set out to try and understand why some large-scale energy efficiency schemes have gone so wrong for some householders and wanted to answer “What would a user-centred approach to procurement of energy efficiency schemes in Greater Manchester entail?” The final output of the project has focused on exploring user-centred approaches to the planning and delivery of energy efficiency local authority schemes. The whole project was delivered with stakeholders engaged in research, development and testing of recommendations.

Based in Greater Manchester, Carbon Coop is a not-for-profit community energy organisation which aims to help people and communities make radical reductions in household carbon emissions and energy bills.

What was the impact

• A toolkit that is usable by a wide range of organisations including local authorities, housing associations, charities and communities.
• By the end of the funding over 300 people from these types of organisations had been engaged in the process.

How ENWL supported the scheme

Oldham Community Power (OCP) was awarded £3,000 from Electricity North West’s Powering our Communities Fund for a new project to provide schools with electronic displays on their solar generation.

Why is the project community energy?

The solar generation on the schools is owned by Oldham Community Power and therefore the community. By extending the project to engage with the school children, the project will deliver extra benefit to the community by raising awareness of energy issues, climate change and the benefits of installing renewable energy sources such as solar power.

Who would find this useful information?

Community groups who own solar PV panels on school buildings and would like to increase their engagement with the school community.

What the project set out to achieve

In 2018, with support from an Oldham-based IT consultancy and a grant from Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, OCP installed a large digital display at Beever Street School. The screen relays information about the electricity generated from the school’s solar panels to the school children and the local community. This project will replicate this service at four additional schools in the Oldham area.

The displays will serve as a constant reminder of climate change, the importance of sustainable energy and the dramatic shift taking place in the energy market. They will also help to promote the benefits of community energy schemes, where electricity is generated and used locally for the benefit of the environment and the local community.

Based in Oldham, OCP is a community benefit society which aims to generate electricity from renewable sources located at council-owned and community buildings for the benefit of the environment and the local community. The society is contracted to install solar panels on community buildings in return for providing electricity at reduced prices.

At the same time the society aims to provide an educational service on the need for and benefits of sustainable energy.

What was the impact

• Display panels installed at five schools and one community building
• Lessons delivered to 60 children
• New board member recruited with experience of delivering the project

Summary of project 

Residents of Alston Moor, in Cumbria received energy advice tailored to the property types and weather conditions in Alston, which is high on the moors in Cumbria.

How ENWL supported the scheme

Electricity North West, the distribution network operator for the north west of England supported this project with a £15,000 grant from its Powering our Communities grant scheme.

Why is the project community energy?

Due to the outlying nature of Alston Moor and surrounding area a member of the local community was recruited to work with Cumbria Action for Sustainability to deliver this project.  Using an embedded community engagement manager who lived in the community provided a local and recognised contact.  One of the reasons for this approach was to get better traction in the community by using a local and also to leave a legacy with the knowledge gained as part of the project remaining within the community after the funding has finished. 

 

 

What the project set out to achieve

The project set out to train local energy grant champions to be able to support households with energy efficiency advice and support with grant applications for energy efficiency measures.  The project was delivered against a challenging back drop of volunteer burn out due to the reliance on volunteers to support vulnerable members of the community during COVID. However, the on-going energy crisis has also increased the need for energy efficiency advice and support.

By recruiting a local engagement manager, the project was able to increase the reach of the offer and the support available to the residents.  Over 140 people attending three events and webinar delivered by the project on energy efficiency advice for households.  In addition to the project lead a further 4 energy grant champions were recruited and trained.  By the end of the funding 13 households had received energy efficiency advice and grant support.  The knowledge of the energy grant champions remains in the community to provide a legacy beyond the lifetime of the funding.

What was the impact

• 4 grant champions trained in energy awareness to City and Guilds level 3
• 1000 people reached by project communications
• 140 people attending advice workshops and events
• 13 households received bespoke support

How ENWL supported the scheme

The Kashmir Youth Project (KYP) was awarded £8,280 from Electricity North West’s Powering our Communities Fund for a new project known as Fuel Katao, Paisay Bachao (Save fuel, save money).

Why is the project community energy?

KYP’s project will engage with vulnerable customers in the local community to help reduce fuel poverty. Using a variety of channels, the project will raise awareness of fuel poverty issues, provide energy saving advice and other guidance which will educate the local community to take control of their energy consumption.

Who would find this useful information?

This project is a good example at how to reach a community where English is not the first language. 

What the project set out to achieve

Based in Rochdale, KYP is a leading community/voluntary organisation, established nearly 40 years ago. It is an independent charity dedicated to the development and economic regeneration of the communities of Rochdale. It aims to help empower economically and socially deprived communities of all ages either through enterprise, employment or training.

By engaging with Rochdale’s most deprived communities, this project aims to target fuel poverty by educating local people to be more energy efficient.

A dedicated bilingual fuel poverty officer will be appointed to work with local community centres and mosques to raise awareness of fuel poverty issues and opportunities to improve energy efficiency. In this way the project hopes to reach over 1800 people.

The project will hold two workshops, aimed at reaching around 200 people, to educate them on energy efficiency measures and to help change behaviours to reduce fuel consumption. The workshops will cover the support available from the local council such as cavity wall insulation and the Toasty Rochdale scheme, part of a wider Greater Manchester initiative to reduce energy consumption in domestic homes by funding home improvements.

At least six bi-lingual energy efficiency action podcasts will be developed as part of the project and will be streamed on social media, Facebook and the charity’s website.

KYP hopes to reach around 40 over-50s through two energy efficiency behaviour change sessions to help them better understand their bills and energy use and provide tips on how they can reduce their energy consumption. A six-week follow-up session will provide an opportunity to see if changes have been made and any challenges encountered.

A bi-lingual welfare rights and advice officer will provide support to around 540 vulnerable people by helping them to switch suppliers and by ensuring they are aware and able to fully benefit from all the current benefits and public services available to them.

This project will set up a community energy organisation which will be run by the community for the benefit of the community.

What was the impact

• Raised awareness of fuel poverty issues among the target community;
• Increase confidence among householders so they are able to make small improvements in their home to improve energy efficiency and control their energy consumption;
• Help householders to reduce energy costs;
• Help householders to switch energy supplier;
• Increase access to eligible benefits and services.

How ENWL supported the scheme

Burnley Boys and Girls Club was awarded £15,000 from Electricity North West’s Powering our Communities Fund for their Eco Warriors project.

Why is the project community energy?

By developing the knowledge and skills of young people to help them learn how to reduce their carbon footprint and giving them the confidence to engage with others, this project will promote the key messages of carbon emissions reduction and energy efficiency to the wider community.

What the project set out to achieve

As part of the Eco Warriors project, the club has now revamped its facilities to become more environmentally friendly with the installation of state-of-the-art eco lights for its indoor playing area. The heating system will also be replaced with an energy efficient low emission alternative.

The second part of the project is to develop the knowledge and skills of the young club members to provide them with an understanding of the importance of reducing carbon emissions and to help them take control of their own carbon footprint. This will be achieved through a programme of training sessions and workshops. Role play sessions will help give them confidence to act as eco warriors so they can share that knowledge with family and friends, local businesses and the wider community.

One of East Lancashire’s oldest youth charities, Burnley Boys and Girls Club aims to promote and support young people through education, recreation and wellbeing. The club delivers weekly sessions, workshops and one-to-one development sessions and holds regular sports activities, social and fun sessions to empower the young people in their care.

What was the impact

The club members are already such committed eco warriors that they decided to sell their minibus to reduce their carbon footprint and use the £10,000 proceeds to co-fund the new project.

Graham Vernon, the club’s manager believes the new facilities are already having a positive impact on the club members and the community. But the benefits from the project will be demonstrated by recording data from the installation of the new eco-friendly lights and heating which will serve as a learning platform for the eco warriors to build upon.

https://youtu.be/03m_EUc1UJA - Burnley boys and girls club

Organisation behind the project

Based near Kendal in Cumbria, Burneside Community Energy (BCE) is an industrial and provident society acting for the benefit of the community which aims to increase community ownership of renewable energy and low carbon projects, and to distribute energy within the community.

BCE aims to help develop a low carbon energy system for Burneside as a whole, and to be an exemplar of how a village community can achieve this.

Background and detailed description of the project

The Community-owned Energy Supply project is developing a business plan to supply locally generated renewable energy to a new development of 180 homes in Burneside, Cumbria. The project will then look to extend the provision of this power source to existing homes in Burneside and encourage the local community to be energy efficient, helping to reduce fuel poverty and reduce the carbon footprint of the village.

Having installed community-owned solar projects totalling 450kW on the roofs of the local paper mill, James Cropper plc, and five other schemes including a local school, BCE set out on a more ambitious plan to provide community-owned energy assets for a new housing development in the heart of the Burneside community.

As well as providing an investment opportunity for local shareholders, BCE’s approach aims to reduce CO₂ emissions and generate funds to support other local projects. To date £7,500 from the first solar panel scheme has been allocated to a community benefit fund.

In the Local Plan, up to 180 new homes are set to be built in the centre of the village of Burneside. BCE plans to supply electricity to the new development at or below market rates, using a combination of local generation and supply/demand balancing.

Our £15,000 funding is being used to develop the business model and has so far resulted in the group being able to successfully bid for a further £100,000 from the Next Generation Fund to develop the detailed commercial propositions.

The new housing development is being managed by Igloo Regeneration who is working in partnership with BCE to ensure that the new homes are as energy efficient as possible, and incorporate community-owned electricity generation. It is expected that the homes will be all electric, replacing traditional gas central heating in favour of electric heat pumps, and installing charging points for electric vehicles, fed by locally generated renewable electricity combined with energy storage.

BCE’s project director Gill expects the project to deliver a new business model for community energy and a new way of working for housing developments, where the developer can partner with a community energy organisation to provide energy infrastructure. Already the developer has asked Gill to provide community energy expertise for another development in Cumbria.

It is hoped that this approach will ultimately support vulnerable customers and reduce fuel poverty by offering cheaper electricity to other homes in the community, and provide energy support funding through the community benefit fund.

Project partners

To deliver the project, BCE is working with a number of partners including:

• Quantum Strategy & Technology Ltd – an experienced business consultancy, who will manage the delivery of the project, bringing in additional expertise from other partners. Quantum has extensive experience of supporting community energy organisations from initial feasibility to establishment, project management, expansion and operating/developing innovation
• Ellergreen Estate – the landowner and developer for the new housing
• Igloo Regeneration – development partner specialising in working with investors, communities, local authorities and landowners to deliver transformational regeneration and development projects.

Where to go for further information

For more information on our community and local energy strategy visit our strategy page, or to find out more about the work of Community Energy Burneside visit their website.