Green Energy Awards Shortlist Announced
The shortlist for the coveted Green Energy Awards has been announced.
And Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, Devon and Cornwall Housing and Exeter's SunGift Energy all make an appearance.
The awards, now in their 12th year, are organised by Regen SW to celebrate the innovation and creative ingenuity that has put the south west at the forefront of the green energy revolution.
The shortlisted nominees (listed below) will now go through to the final stage of judging, where an expert panel of judges, headed by Lord Robin Teverson, will select this year’s winners.
The winners of each category will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony at Bath’s historic Assembly Rooms on 25 November 2015.
Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen SW, said: “This year’s Green Energy Awards shortlist is an inspiring insight into the ingenuity and innovation that is putting the south west of England at the forefront of the green energy revolution. We are seeing businesses, local communities and public bodies working together to deliver great renewable energy projects, cut fuel bills and create thousands of high value jobs.”
Shortlisted nominees are as follows:
MOST PROACTIVE PUBLIC SECTOR BODY SPONSORED BY ASHFORDS
1. Plymouth City Council
Continuing its strong Low Carbon agenda, Plymouth City Council (PCC) aims to reduce city-wide emissions from 2005 levels by 50 per cent by 2031. PCC successfully supported the partnering of Plymouth Energy Cooperative Renewables and Four Greens Community Trust (FGCT) to develop a 4.1 MW community-owned solar array, providing £130,000 of Social Enterprise Investment Fund support for project development.
2. Public Power Solutions
Public Power Solutions (PPS) a wholly-owned company of Swindon Borough Council, has developed an innovative approach to solar development and is using its expertise and experience to support other public sector organisations throughout the UK. PPS has developed 65 MW of ground-mount solar on five different local sites, including partnerships with the Science Museum and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
3. Devon County Council
Championed by the Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services, Devon County Council (DCC)’s SEACS project, run with Dorset County and Wiltshire Councils and two authorities in Brittany, invested £45,000 over three years in Devon in schools and communities. DCC has provided £100,000 to a Community Energy Accelerator and has commissioned the UK’s first community energy legal toolkit.
4. South Gloucestershire Council
South Gloucestershire Council (SGC)’s demonstrates strong leadership and action on renewable energy. They have installed a biomass boiler in their BREAM excellent office and are building a 250 KW ground mounted solar PV scheme to supply the office. They have also installed 10 roof mounted solar PV arrays; six solar thermal arrays; eight biomass boilers; two ground source heat pumps; and two air source heat pumps on surrounding buildings and schools.
BEST RENEWABLE ENERGY SCHEME
1. Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy
Braydon Manor Solar Farm is a community led project with a projected annual output of just under 5 MW - enough to provide energy for about 1,400 homes, saving 2,500 tonnes of carbon. The site is grade four grassland and over the 25 years of the project they plan to turn it into a wildflower meadow to act as a biodiversity bank within the designated Braydon Forest Project.
2. Greener for Life Energy Ltd
Greener for Life Energy (GfLE) has become one of the largest developers of AD projects in the UK, with over 90 per cent of projects delivered in the south west region. GfLE generate a mix of electricity generation through CHP units, and gas upgrading to produce bio-methane. Each bio-methane plant will save up to 303gC02e per kWh (against imported LNG).
3. Westward Housing and Kensa Heat Pumps
Tuckers Park features nine sheltered housing bungalows, formerly heated by expensive night storage heaters. Westward Housing and Kensa Heat Pumps retrofitted Kensa 6 kW Shoebox ground source heat pumps which supply heat and hot water to the dwellings via new wet heating systems. The project is expected to save tenants 50 per cent on their fuel bills, and a 1413tCO2 lifetime carbon saving.
4. Poole Housing Partnership
Poole Housing Partnership project has installed around 1,500 photovoltaic systems on council homes across Borough of Poole. In total, they have delivered 10,900 MWh of energy to our residents and saved over 5,700 tonnes of CO2. This equates to 2,725 MWh per annum and 1,425 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
5. SunGift Energy and Exeter City Council
SunGift installed the UK’s first two ‘solar carports’ on Exeter City Council’s John Lewis and Mary Arches multi-story car parks – the most technologically complex solar solution SunGift has ever carried out. The projects generate 285,227 kWh of renewable electricity and save 150+ tonnes of CO2 per annum.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INSTALLER OR SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
1. Optimum Heating Ltd
Optimum Heating have supplied and installed 78 biomass boilers totalling 2,634 KW since August 2014. They also constructed a domestic boiler scheme where they installed 25 biomass boilers free of charge to customers who would not have normally installed or could not afford a biomass boiler.
2. Sunuser Limited
Sunuser Limited received a second IWA Customer Care Award after achieving a 99 per cent Customer Satisfaction Rating and won Regional RHI Installer of the Year 2015 at the Green Deal and Eco Awards. They have teamed up with charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust to dedicate a tree for every biomass boiler they install.
3. Your Power Ltd
Your Power are one of the region’s leading PV installers having installed more than 10 MW of roof-top installations. Innovation is at the heart of the company, with Your Power being the first installer to connect an export limited PV system to the Western Power Distribution electricity grid.
4. Your Hydro Ltd
As one of only two major hydro turbine manufacturers based in the UK, Your Hydro commissioned and completed almost 3 MW of hydropower this past year. They sit on the board of the British Hydro Association and have been involved with Environment Agency consultations to represent the hydropower industry when under threat.
5. Good Energy
Good Energy has been changing the UK’s energy landscape since it was founded, through growth, innovation and their continued commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity. Good Energy has recently won two consecutive Money Saving Expert polls for customer service and also topped the Which? Energy company customer satisfaction survey for three out of the last four years.
6. T H White Energy
In the last year T H White has delivered a full programme of commercial solar and biomass installations including Ransomwood, which was shortlisted for the best use of solar in CSR context. They have proven successful at exporting business outside the region, and are now merging with fire and security division to extend its range into specialist building services including energy management and other efficient technology.
7. SunGift Energy
SunGift has demonstrated high-quality service in 2014/2015, putting customer satisfaction before profit; growing their domestic and commercial business. Sungift Energy also went on to win the 2014 Solar Power Portal UK Installer of the Year and have seen a 547 per cent increase in turnover for commercial sales on the same 12 month period last year.
SOUTH WEST SUSTAINABLE ENERGY CHAMPION, SPONSORED BY THE CROWN ESTATE
1. Andrew Garrad
Dr Andrew Garrad is nominated in the category of Sustainable Energy Champion for his complete and unwavering support for the renewable energy sector over the past 30 years. He is a currently a member of the Bristol University Cabot Institute, member of the South West Marine Energy Park board and supports many other initiatives and groups in the marine energy sector.
2. Doug Eltham
Doug Eltham has tirelessly supported sustainable energy and environmental initiatives in Devon and across the south west through innovative partnership projects. Throughout his career Doug has been a collaborative bridge builder for the low carbon sector enabling the efforts of disparate groups to be effective and produce the change we need.
3. Gabriel Wondrausch
Gabriel set up SunGift in 2005, a successful renewable energy business that he initially built from his spare room. Now he demonstrates his passion for renewables through his leadership of SunGift and extensive time championing the industry’s interests. He talks at numerous national and international events, supports initiatives such as Plymouth Energy Cooperative and is board member of Exeter Community Energy.
BEST BUSINESS INNOVATION
1. Good Energy and Bristol Pound
Good Energy and Bristol Pound created the £B scheme, allowing members living in Bristol and the surrounding area to support the growth of renewables using a currency that keeps money in the local area. The scheme is a world first, as there is nowhere else where it is possible to pay to heat and power your home using a local currency.
2. Wattstor Ltd
The Wattstor® is a scalable battery system suitable for both domestic and commercial properties of varying sizes. It offers off-grid capability, increases a customer’s usage of their green energy by up to 80 per cent and reduces their consumption of grid electricity by 60 per cent. The Wattstor® ability to offer grid-resilience means they can out-perform many new products entering the market but at a considerably lower price.
3. Advanced Plasma Power
Advanced Plasma Power Limited (APP) is a global pioneer in advanced waste to energy technology based in the South West. The company has developed the Gasplasma® process, a clean, modular and scalable advanced waste to energy and fuels technology which can be used to produce advanced biofuels as well as renewable electricity from mixed residual waste.
4. Energy Local Limited
Social enterprise Energy Local will transform, bottom up, the electricity market for communities and small-scale renewables in the south west and UK. They aim to do this by allowing communities to pool their generation, rather than selling it at a loss to a supplier and through the benefits from Time of Use Tariffs.
BEST COMMUNITY INITIATIVE SPONSORED BY SSPD
1. Low Carbon Gordano
Low Carbon Gordano (LCG) is a north Somerset-based community benefit society. Support from Bath and West Community Energy enabled LCG to obtain the rights to build a 1.836 MW solar array at Moorhouse Farm near Hallen in North-West Bristol. A share offer that raised over £2.2 million in the summer of 2014.
2. TRESOC
TRESOC initiated the Shine Project with South Devon Rural Housing Association (SDRHA) and Beco Energy Solutions. The goal is to put as much solar PV as is feasible on social housing roofs in and around Totnes; to provide power to local households, reduce their electricity bills and open up the conversation about the real need for and benefits of clean energy.
3. Dorset Community Energy
Dorset Community Energy has had rapid progress with a successful share offer in June 2015 which raised £190,000 in four weeks. The six community solar PV installations were completed by the end of August with a total installed capacity of 115 kW. The six sites are able to benefit from free PV electricity, estimated to be worth £200,000 over 20 years.
BEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCHEME
1. Devon and Cornwall Housing Ltd
DCH initiated a project under the ‘Ready for Retrofit’ programme. The project targeted some of the least energy efficient homes in rural locations of Devon for heating system improvements. The project has resulted in reduced running costs for the residents of the homes, together with significantly reduced CO2 emissions.
2. Plymouth Energy Community
PEC developed a scheme to improve the city’s housing stock. The scheme was significant as it one of the first in the region to achieve this and provided a highly replicable national model for other community/local authority groups to follow. The PEC/PCC partnership has now developed a free boiler scheme to help those in receipt of qualifying benefits to replace inefficient boilers.
3. Poole Housing Partnership
Poole Housing Partnership (PHP) ran a project refurbing 134 council homes to reduce heat loss through improved wall and roof insulation, thermally efficient glazing, LED lighting and low-carbon ventilation to each flat. The project is expected to save in excess of 8,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and now PHP are exploring the potential of refurbishing four similar blocks in other parts of Poole.
Renewable Futures: Pathways to Parity
25 November 2015
As the sector faces up to dramatic policy changes Renewable Futures brings to together industry leaders to look at the new technologies and business models emerging that are enabling renewable energy to move beyond subsidy to becoming the backbone of our electricity system.
