An ambitious project which will see multiple roof-mounted solar panels installed at council buildings across Newport has taken its first step.
Newport City Council is working in collaboration with Egni Co-op to help the authority in its aims to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2030.
Following a detailed feasibility study – with support from the Welsh Government Energy Services, Sustainable Communities Wales and the Wales Co-operative Centre – a plan has been drawn up to install 6,000 solar panels across 21 sites at zero cost to the council.
Schools, a council depot and care homes have so far been identified and once installed the solar panels will generate 1,973,000 units of clean renewable electricity per year.
Work has recently been completed at Parklands and Blaen-Y-Pant Residential Care homes where 129 solar panels have been installed across both sites.
Most of the electricity generated will be used on site reducing the council’s carbon emissions by 348 tonnes per year. Some electricity will also be exported onto the grid for use in the city.
Councillor Deb Davies, the council’s cabinet member for sustainable development said: “The council is determined to take a lead on tackling the climate crisis and by working with Egni Co-op in the coming months we will achieve a 20 fold increase in the amount of renewable energy installed on our buildings.
“This is a big step towards our ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.”
Egni Co-op is a community organisation which funds and manages PV installations in Wales. It was set up by Awel Aman Tawe (AAT), a community energy charity which has been operating for 20 years.
The solar panels in Newport have been funded by a loan from the Development Bank of Wales and Egni’s ongoing co-op share offer which has raised £1.4m to date.
It is promoting a specialist education programme highlighting the benefits and use of solar panels, renewable energy and the business model of co-operatives.
The company is also part of an EU project to support co-op entrepreneurship in schools which starts in April this year.
It will be working with Newport City Council in this project and use the materials produced as part of its education pack in the city’s schools.
Councillor Gail Giles, the council’s cabinet member for education and skills said: “We are delighted by the positive way our school pupils and staff are engaging with this ambitious project.
“A number of our schools are already members of Egni’s sister project Awel Co-op wind farm and have visited wind turbines. As part of Egni’s work an online educational portal will be developed so students can learn more about renewable energy generated on the roofs of their schools.”
Egni Co-op will also be providing specific teaching/lesson support which ties in with the new Welsh curriculum via a dedicated energy officer who will be visiting schools.
Egni Director Rosie Gillam said: “We are excited to be with Newport. Our aims are to tackle climate change, reduce Welsh energy costs and develop educational projects with schools. It’s wonderful to be part of a co-operative working alongside a Welsh local authority, as it retains funding within Wales and has many positive educational outcomes.
“Each school will have £500 of shares in the co-op, which will provide opportunities to learn about the co-op business model to help boost entrepreneurship.”
Egni Coop
Egni Co-op is a community organisation which funds and manages PV installations in Wales. It was set up by Awel Aman Tawe (AAT), a community energy charity which has been operating for 20 years. Our prime drivers are tackling climate change and engaging people in energy.
The team behind Egni have also delivered the award-winning Awel Co-op, a 4.7MW community wind farm which was commissioned in Jan 2017. It was funded by a £5.25m loan from Triodos Bank and a £3m community share offer www.awel.coop.
Egni won Outstanding Renewable Energy Project in an award sponsored by Welsh Government last month https://egni.co-op/egni-co-op-earns-a-place-in-the-sun-at-wales-sustainability-academy-awards/ & Awel Aman Tawe was recognised as Environmental Organisation of the Year in the Social Enterprise UK Awards – https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/winners-of-the-uk-social-enterprise-awards-2019/
Joju Solar
Egni has appointed Joju Solar as its installer for Newport. Joju Solar are the UK’s leading Installers of community funded solar energy schemes. They installed the very first community solar project in the UK back in 2008, and since then have been responsible for building nearly 10% of all community funded renewables in the UK. All of this has been rooftop-mounted solar across hundreds of individual sites, including schools, libraries, industrial buildings, universities and supermarkets.
Dr Chris Jardine, Joju Solar’s Technical Director explains “Community energy is a way of delivering carbon reductions at serious scale, whilst simultaneously engaging with the local community. A sustainable energy transition needs to built from the bottom-up in this way, if it is to be successful. Egni’s scheme in Newport is a perfect example of what can be achieved.”
For further details of Egni , please contact Rosie Gillam on 07938 377374 or Dan McCallum 07590 848818
For the Council:
public.relations@newport.gov.uk
01633 656656 or 01633 210461
www.newport.gov.uk
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