TRESOC and Transition Homes Community Land Trust (THCLT) are thrilled to announce TRESOC’s award of a second Government grant, for £79,710, from the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF). The money will be used for the development of a Community Microgrid and Solar scheme at THCLT’s Clay Park development. THCLT has planning permission for 31 highly energy-efficient eco-homes and are currently submitting a planning application to add eight more homes to the site to help balance the books. This application also includes plans to increase the biodiversity of the site through extra tree planting, marsh plants in the damper areas and bird, bee and bat boxes to house wildlife. The housing development will offer a choice of affordable rent or shared ownership for local people in housing need. It has invited TRESOC to become the energy supplier, and to own and operate the energy system.

The innovative microgrid design will enable residents to maximise the use of the 160kW rooftop Solar PV, by sending the green energy to wherever it is needed on site, rather than feeding it back to the grid as is customary. This will make it more efficient and enable the green energy to be sold to the residents at a reduced market rate. TRESOC envisages this to be 10% less than grid price, minimising residents’ energy bills. The energy system software will further maximise energy savings by heating hot water from the daytime solar.

TRESOC received a Stage 1 RCEF Grant to carry out a feasibility study that demonstrated the project is technically and economically viable. The Stage 2 Development Grant will now pay for the technical, legal, financial and community engagement work to take the project to the point of being finance ready.

Jon Rattenbury, Programme Manager for the SW Energy Hub, said: “We are delighted to be supporting TRESOC through the next stages of their Clay Park projects. Innovative projects such as this prove how much community initiatives can achieve in the energy space and the vital role projects like these play in the transition to net zero.”

The grant recognises the innovative nature of the project, which it is hoped will demonstrate an economically viable community business model for providing solar PV on housing estates that can be shared with other community energy groups, and the energy sector more widely. Part of the grant is specifically for knowledge sharing and dissemination, and TRESOC have waived any intellectual property rights. TRESOC are a member of the Devon Community Energy Network and has encouraged the establishment of a microgrids working group to facilitate this knowledge sharing. There are several local community energy groups exploring microgrids, who will be able to share the Clay Park legal and technical templates, greatly reducing their own development costs.

TRESOC are working with Buro Happold for the technical design and Ansley Foot Solicitors for legal work. Communities for Renewables and Westerly Chartered Accountants will be providing financial advice. Within the technical design Buro Happold have already identified several software gaps and are using the project to kick start innovation in these areas which will help other small scale microgrids going forward.

The capital to pay for the infrastructure, ie the microgrid, solar and EV charging system – approximately £160,000 – will be raised through a community share offer. Clay Park residents, TRESOC members and the Totnes and Dartington community will be eligible to participate. The feasibility study projected an interest rate of 3% with a payback period of 20 years. Surplus income from the project will be used to support ongoing energy advice work with residents, a Clay Park Community Fund and TRESOC’s Renewable Energy Experiential Learning (REEL) programme for local primary schools.

On site at Clay Park, the access road has gone in. However, the main construction project is delayed while THCLT await the outcome of their revised planning application. They hope to begin construction in the new year.