The first was the Settle Hydro project in Settle, North Yorkshire, the other the Torrs Hydro project which is sited in a very impressive river gorge in the middle of New Mills, Derbyshire.

Both projects were great to see and we’re hoping in the future to be generating some hydro power down here around Bath too.

John Lancaster

There have been two meetings of the group so far where Greg Barker has highlighted the key questions he would like to see addressed and the group has discussed at some length the Feed in Tariff (and the absence of a Community Tariff to date). The group will be looking at the Green Deal and the Renewable Heat Incentive at future meetings. Pete Capener says, “It is encouraging to see that both Government ministers and senior civil servants are keen to hear the community perspective. Though of course the test will be to see the degree to which discussion translates into supportive policy and practice.”

The Terms of Reference for the Contact Group are:

1. To support policy development within DECC to ensure that community perspectives are heard and included as appropriate; and,

2.  To help the Government identify the barriers to community energy delivering its full potential and the measures necessary to remove the barriers.

Follow this link for more information

Working to a very tight time schedule, as the money has to be spent by the end of March, a team of energy specialists have visited the schools to identify energy saving opportunities. After delving into boiler rooms, inspecting insulation and measuring thermal conductivity all over the school they have compiled a report. This shows that savings of between 20-60% are possible on the schools’ current energy bills (this includes the contribution from the solar PV).

The team have worked up initial proposals for BWCE to finance energy efficiency improvement packages. They have tested how these ideas could work in practice with our colleagues at the schools concerned, B&NES council and legal advisors Carbon Leapfrog. Conclusions suggest a business case may exist for BWCE at around half the schools surveyed.

Team leader Cathy Hough says “The team have also worked with schools to engage pupils and the local community in energy saving actions. This has included energy monitor loan schemes, curriculum linked projects, home energy questionnaires, whole school assemblies and energy roadshows. It has been a busy but productive few months! Once its completed the schools team look forward to sharing the final project report with you on the BWCE website.”