TRESOC Wins RCEF Grant for Clay Park Feasibility Study #HarnessOurPower

As it is Community Energy Fortnight, we are delighted to announce that residents at Transition Homes’ housing development at Clay Park in Dartington could benefit from their own supply of affordable green energy, thanks to funding awarded by the South West Energy Hub in partnership with the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership.

Working with Transition Homes Community Land Trust (THCLT), TRESOC has been awarded a Rural Community Energy Fund grant of almost £30,000.  The funding will be used to carry out a feasibility study into the development of a solar photovoltaic (PV) array plus on-site battery storage and electric vehicle charging points at the 31-home Clay Park development.

If the study proves successful, a micro-grid will be set up to supply the site, taking renewable solar energy direct to residents at a below-market rate.  It is estimated that the PV array could generate 180,000 kWh of energy, worth nearly £30,000 a year*, on which residents will save approximately 10%.  As well as improving local energy resilience, this would save an estimated 45 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually.

Karl Tucker, Chair of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership said: “Our vision is to create a dynamic, highly prosperous region with high living standards and an outstanding quality of life, and clean energy is an important theme running through our activity, so I’m pleased that the South West Energy Hub has awarded this feasibility grant.

“The scheme could not only help to improve quality of life for local people on lower incomes, but also make an important contribution to tackling the climate emergency. We look forward to hearing the results of the study.”

Sally Murrall-Smith, TRESOC’s Operations Manager said, “The grant, worth £29,156, will be used to evaluate the economic viability of the scheme, design the system, determine the best technology mix, and cover organisational and legal costs, community engagement and project management.”

“We’re delighted that TRESOC has been successful with this grant bid, and we are looking forward to working with them,” added THCLT Project Coordinator Nicola Lang. “Delivering the PV array and micro-grid system will help us to reduce the environmental impact of the homes at Clay Park while making it more affordable for residents and supporting the local economy.”

THCLT has planning permission for 31 highly energy-efficient eco-homes at the progressive Clay Park development in Dartington, offering 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 system.

TRESOC intends to raise the capital to install the solar PV panels, microgrid, and operating system, estimated to cost £180,000, through a community share-offer. Clay Park residents will be able to purchase shares in the scheme if they so wish. Interest from the income to TRESOC will be distributed to local shareholders, strengthening the local economy, while boosting employment via local procurement rules. TRESOC will also develop an ongoing renewable energy education programme in partnership with local schools and Clay Park residents.

The feasibility grant was provided by the Rural Community Energy Fund, a government scheme administered by the South West Energy Hub in partnership with Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership. Jon Rattenbury, Programme Manager for the South West Energy Hub said: “This innovative scheme is a great example of how developing local green energy can bring a wide range of economic and community benefits at the same time as helping tackle the climate emergency. We are really pleased to be able to award this grant funding to TRESOC and hope that other local communities will be inspired to follow their example.”

Part of the funding has been allocated to a community engagement programme to run alongside the study. This will comprise:

  • Four Walk & Talk (site visits) during the first week in September, exploring the site and giving an opportunity to ask questions in an informal manner. These will be open to general public and be timetabled at weekends and during weekdays to make it easier for people to attend. Children welcome and there will be child-friendly activities on site so parents can give their attention to the tour
  • Focus groups in mid-September. For people interested in living at Clay Park
  • An evening talk at the end of September outlining the results of the study so far. This will be open to the general public

If you are interested in attending any of the events, please register your interest by emailing admin@tresoc.co.uk.

Addendum: Sally, our Operations Manager, was interviewed about the Clay Park grant on BBC Radio Devon on 24.06.20. You can listen to the broadcast here.

TRESOC to supply green power to Transition Homes

TRESOC have been invited by Transition Homes Community Land Trust to own, install and operate 180kW of solar PV on their Clay Park Eco-Housing Development. TRESOC will become the energy supplier for the mini-grid providing the site with 100% green electricity. We will be submitting a development grant to the Rural Communities Energy Fund in December to bring the project to financial closure. Once the scheme is investment ready, in July 2020, TRESOC will release a community share-offer to finance it. Please sign up to the Friends of TRESOC mailing list for updates, by emailing admin@tresoc.co.uk.

More renewables for Totnes!

We have achieved over a QUARTER of a MILLION pounds in local investment… £258,000 to be precise.  Your investment (min £20, max £100,000) has kick-started our ready-to-go solar projects, bringing them into community ownership.  Thank you for making an ethical, secure, investment in community-scale, clean energy installations… co-owned with your friends and neighbours.  Millions have been raised by Community Energy groups across the UK – we have the power!

More good news – TRESOC has succeeded in meeting Charity Bank’s rigorous criteria and has received a “Heads of Terms” document for a loan of £356,000 based on two of the solar projects in our prospectus; 70+ Housing Association roofs and the purchase of the operating array on Hatchlands Farm barn.

Join Jonathon Porritt and hundreds of people just like you…

Invest now to enable Housing Association tenants to benefit from free electricity.

This is a great opportunity to put you money in an ethical, secure, investment in community-scale, clean energy installations.  Millions have been raised by community energy groups across the UK – we have the power!

“I’ve been following TRESOC’s fortunes for some years – and was strongly in favour of their (sadly) unsuccessful wind farm application 18 months ago.  For me, TRESOC represents exactly the kind of organisation on which the future of energy in the UK will come increasingly to depend.  Personally, I’ve invested £2,500 – and wish it could be a lot more.  Over the last five years, I have set aside roughly £5,000 a year to invest in community energy schemes around the country.  It just makes much more sense to me at the moment than sticking it in a pension pot!” – Jonathon Porritt 

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Read our Prospectus, then apply by returning the Application Form and a cheque to us – for £20 up to £100,000.  Membership comes with TRESOC’s acceptance of your application and investment payment.  Download our WHY INVEST CRIB SHEET to help spread the word.

Solar PV bill-saving for housing association residents

After a dream of a process, we have a new working partnership with South Devon Rural Housing Association (SDRHA) to install solar PV on all of their suitable properties.  The solar panels will provide a source of free electricity for SDRHA tenants during daylight hours or to heat water when tenants are not at home during the day.

TRESOC has engaged local company, BECO Solar to carry out the work.  A preliminary desktop survey shows that over half of SDRHA’s properties are suitable for solar PV installations.  Site surveys will now be arranged with tenants to ensure that roof structure and electrical connections are suitable before preparing a final list of homes for viable solar PV installations.  Although not all roofs will meet the criteria, and therefore not all SDRHA tenants will benefit directly, local community investment will enable SDRHA to use its own resources to further improve the energy efficiency of its entire housing stock.

SDRHA has been installing solar PV for the benefit of its residents for some time, working with Transition Town Totnes’ Transition Streets initiative and through TTT’s current PV referral scheme.  TRESOC has now provided a solution that allows SDRHA to give some welcome relief from rising energy bills to many more tenants.

Steve Prime, SDRHA’s Chief Exec, commented for the upcoming press release,

“TRESOC’s community investment model is allowing us to benefit a large proportion of our tenants simply because TRESOC can operate at scale.  The fact that SDRHA tenants will benefit directly from lower electricity bills, and TRESOC’s local members will benefit from Feed in Tariff income is ideal.  And, not investing our capital in retrofit solar means that we can continue to explore other renewable energy technologies, allowing us to look to the future.  It’s a perfect model for any housing association.  Local money, local investment, what is not to like?”

The TRESOC team is delighted to be working on this project.  Funding for the scheme will come from the local community through a TRESOC share issue later this Spring.  Feed In Tariff payments will provide a return to potentially thousands of TRESOC members in the local community, adding further benefit to the local economy.