28th September 2015
Communities for Renewables CIC (CfR) is delighted to have assisted PEC Renewables in achieving planning consent for a 4.1 MW community owned solar project in the Ernesettle area of Plymouth. On Thursday 24th September, Plymouth City Council (PCC) planning committee voted unanimously to approve the application, with some very positive comments coming from committee members. The project will be owned by PEC Renewables and is expected to be operational by February 2016, delivering renewable electricity for around 1,000 homes to the local electricity network.
PEC Renewables Limited is a community benefit society that has raised over £2.5million in the last 2 years to install roof-top solar PV on schools and community buildings in the city of Plymouth. Surplus income from PEC Renewables is used to support Plymouth Energy Community’s work tackling fuel poverty in the city. Plymouth Energy Community is a community benefit society established in 2013 with support from Plymouth City Council to give residents in Plymouth the power to transform how they buy and use energy.
PEC Renewables is intending to fund the Ernesettle project through a combination of a community share offer and loan finance, with project revenue coming from the sale of electricity and Renewables Obligation Certificates to energy suppliers. The community solar farm is located on a brown field site and it is intended that the land rent will be donated to Four Greens Community Trust; set up to create local jobs, enterprise and training in the Ernesettle, Honicknowle, West Park, Manadon, and Whitleigh areas of Plymouth where there is a high concentration of low wages and deprivation. In addition, all surplus revenue from the project after operating and finance costs will be used to further Plymouth Energy Community’s work tackling fuel poverty, improving energy efficiency and generating green energy in Plymouth.
The site’s potential was identified through a CfR feasibility study early in 2015 with funding from the Urban Community Energy Fund. PEC Renewables took responsibility for the day to day management of the project, with support through the process from CfR including input into the planning application, land agreements, investigating grid connection options, financial modelling, developing the project business case, pre-construction procurement and identifying potential funders. CfR also helped to get the project off the ground by funding it on a contingent basis, providing its time, additional support from third parties and paying the planning application fee on the basis that costs would only be recovered if the project was delivered.
This collaborative approach enabled the project to progress quickly, with detailed work commencing on the planning application in May 2015, the application being submitted in July and a positive decision being delivered at planning committee in September 2015.
Tom Cosgrove, Development Manager at Communities for Renewables said: “It was a real pleasure working with the PEC Renewables team to deliver this exciting project, they are a very professional outfit with tireless enthusiasm for the job, which has resulted in the project progressing very quickly and successfully. We are all setting our sights on constructing the project as soon as possible so that the Plymouth community can start to realise the benefits it will bring.”
Jake Burnyeat, Director of CfR added: “This is another great example of what a community can achieve with the right resources. The PEC Renewables success story continues with the people of Plymouth taking further control of their energy future.”