Communities for Renewables has received investment from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to work in partnership with community groups that want to generate their own energy at scale and earn income locally to support community projects. Work has already started with Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network, a town in Cornwall with ambitious plans.

Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen SW commented: “We have seen an extraordinary flowering of community groups who want harness their natural resources to generate their own energy and make their communities more resilient and prosperous. Communities for Renewables has been set up to work in partnership with ambitious communities to make these aspirations a reality.”

Jake Burnyeat, managing director of Green Trust CIC commented: “By using a social enterprise business model, Communities for Renewables can provide the finance and expertise needed to enable communities to develop community scale renewable energy projects and earn a significant revenue stream.”

Communities for Renewables has been welcomed by Energy Minister Charles Hendry MP who commented that this is: “just the sort of expertise which I think is going to be necessary, to turn community renewables from being an ambition into reality.” 

More information: : www.communities4renewables

John Redwood, MP

We are up the creek without a paddle and not a lot of water either and will the Water White Paper save us? It’s very doubtful but the All Party Parliamentary Water Group put a brave face on things at last night’s (21^st February) meeting in the House of Commons.

There were a number of eminent water ‘experts’ present including Tony Smith, Consumer Council for Water, Andy Palmer, Wessex Water, Andrew Beaver, Ofwat and Dr Duncan Thomas, Manchester Business School.

And then there was John Redwood, MP, who bought a special ‘clout’ to the evening and was extremely critical of the pending drought, intimating a certain ‘arrogance in the water industry!’

He said: ‘There is a case for competition! Our water supply is useless – in fact, we don’t get a supply! The industry wants to try living in the modern world!”

Of course, the fact that so many people who hold a ‘key’ to the future but are just about retire, is a major problem!

Thomas confirmed this. “There are a lot of ‘champions of change’ who are now retiring and people aren’t coming into the sector bringing new ideas and skills.  There are people out there with inventive ideas but are these going to happen.”

One thing seems certain, that under the Water Act we may be water metered until it runs out of our ears! Greater competition amongst water companies could be a good thing but, as one expert put it, this wouldn’t mean that we would end up with ‘three taps at the end of the bath’!

Despite all the doom and gloom in the water industry it was suggested  ‘the general trend is upwards’ but as resources are so stretched ‘we need to make some positive savings’.

It will soon be time for a spring clean and what better than de-clutteringthose large storage cupboards and adding facilities to your home!

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More information: www.saniflo.com

Deals signed today (17 February) in the presence of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy include:

(1) A groundbreaking £400m deal on nuclear reactors between Rolls Royce and Areva for the first EPR reactor at Hinkley Point, Somerset. This will underpin a new Rolls Royce factory in Rotherham and support 1,200 new jobs across the nuclear supply chain in Britain;

(2) A new engineering contract between EDF and Kier/BAM for the UK’s first proposed new nuclear project at Hinkley Point, Somerset, meaning another £100m for companies operating in the South West and 350 jobs;

(3)A £15m investment in a new world class training campus in Bridgwater, Somerset for EDF employees, new starters and the local community.

Edward Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said: “We need hundreds billions of pounds of investment in clean energy projects in the UK. This will bring high-skilled job opportunities the length and breadth of the country. Construction workers, engineers, technicians – they will all have a role to play.

“There are plans for new nuclear in Somerset, Suffolk, Cumbria, North Wales and Gloucestershire. Supply chains will spring up too, and extend the reach of economic benefit across the country. This investment could be worth around £60billion and create up to 30,000 jobs.

“The deals signed today reflect our ongoing desire to work closely together with our French allies and the private sector on nuclear and across the energy mix.”

More information: www.decc.gov.uk

Charles Phillips, DECC deputy director

Implications of the Green Deal were at the centre of an exclusive NHIC Members Forum  when Charles Phillips, the DECC’s deputy director, lead this controversial debate. He described it as ‘a genuinely stimulating session’ in which he was ‘challenged’ by a ‘reasonably helpful degree of interest’.

Charles works on the Green Deal, looking at the delivery of energy efficiency measures in households. He has particular responsibility for the obligations that Government imposes on the major energy companies to deliver insulation and other energy saving measures through programmes such as the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), as well as the design of the future Energy Company Obligation (ECO) that will take over in late 2012 and run alongside the commercial Green Deal.

NHIC Members were, obviously, concerned about the success of the Green Deal, how is would work and how the promotion of the scheme would take place? The market was evolving where all options within the Green Deal seemed possible but there was a lot of concern about SMEs getting a fair deal!

According to Charles: “The incentive will go to local authorities with the emphasis on local employment. But we need to be competitive.”

Members were also concerned about the link between Feed-In Tariffs (FITS)and Green Deal?

Charles pointed out: “There is nothing to stop people getting renewable products as part of the Green Deal. But the rate of return on the FITs will probably not be taken into account when deciding on Green Deal finance.”

Another important question for NHIC Members what is the sort of investment that will be made per household, under the Golden Rule and ECO?

He explained; “It is a market and this cannot be estimated. We have targets for ECO but the success, together with the Green Deal, will rely on creating a new market where there is space.”

A transcript of Charles Phillips’s presentation and questions and answers is available on request.

An issue of particular concern, however, was promoting the expansion of the market? Charles said that one issue would be the ECO subsidy flowing into the Green Deal.

He suggested: “There is a risk that the Big Six will look to use it for them and not for new members who wish to be Providers. We are talking closely with members to come to an agreement.”

More information: info@nhic.org.uk

Lord Ezra

Lord Ezra, founder chairman of the National Home Improvement Council, highlighted in the drastic increase in fuel poverty at question time in the House of Lords, on 16 February.

The government submitted that an increasing number of people are living in fuel poverty defined as a household spending 10% of its income on fuel. The Liberal Democrat and former chairman of the National Coal Board, Lord Ezra said 5 million homes – a fifth of the national total – were now affected.

Lord Ezra said: “Can the Minister indicate the annual rate at which homes are currently being taken out of fuel poverty and, secondly, do the government remain committed to the objective of eliminating fuel poverty by all reasonably practical means by 2016 as laid down in the Warms Home and Energy Conservation Act 2000?”

The Energy Minister Lord Marland welcomed the question from the man he knew as ‘King Coal’. He told peers the government had commissioned Professor John Hills to review both the target for reducing fuel poverty and the way it was defined. Professor Hills is due to publish his report shortly.

Lord Marland

Lord Marland said: “Since 2005 fuel poverty has gone up from 2.5m homes in the UK to 5million. Now this is a very serious problem which all of us wish to grapple with particularly at these times of economical difficulty.

And so the government is very committed to that and I don’t want to prejudge Professor Hills’ report but we look forward to it and we’ve initiated it!”

He said that government was committed to reducing fuel poverty to nothing but until he had received Professor Hills’ report and the definition had been reworked, he couldn’t comment any further.

The Labour peer Lady Lister asked what the government’s view was of a campaign to put a levy on the big six energy companies using the money to make homes more energy efficient.

Also, the Conservative former chancellor Lord Lawson offered to be of ‘assistance’, as he put it, and suggested a way to cut fuel poverty at a stroke!

He said: “That is to abolish the whole raft of measures from the carbon floor price to the renewals obligations and massive subsidies for wind power, all designed to push up energy costs at the expense of fuel poverty and the expense of British industry and the British economy. And, to no other effect, in the absence of a global decarbonisation agreement which he knows perfectly well is not on the cards!”

More information: info@nhic.org.uk

‘Be Gas Safe’ (www.carbonmonoxidesafety.org.uk) aims to make people aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) and the steps that can be taken to prevent CO poisoning. Such as the need for regular servicing of fuel-burning appliances, good ventilation and the use of audible CO detectors.

Organisations that have regular and direct contact with key risk groups (particularly families with young children and older people) are becoming local partners to help deliver the programme across England.

Each year in England and Wales, there are approximately 50 accidental deaths, 200 non-fatal poisonings that require hospital admission and 4,000 visits to A&E departments that result from CO poisoning. Children and older people are particularly at risk.

With gas appliances and flues that have not been properly installed, maintained or ventilated known to be among the causes of CO poisoning, the key focus of the new three-year programme will be sharing information and advice about how to stay “gas safe”. Audible CO detectors will also be distributed free of charge to 10,000 families.

Errol Taylor, RoSPA’s deputy chief executive, said: “For many years, RoSPA has raised awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide, which is known as the ‘silent killer’ because you cannot see it, taste it or smell it.

“Our new partnership with Gas Safe Charity means there will be a sustained effort for a number of years to reach even more people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, with life-saving messages about the signs and symptoms of CO poisoning and the steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.”

Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association

The Government ‘certainly needed to take steps to stabilise the Feed-in Tariff’, according to Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association  and it welcomed the consultation.

She pointed out: “The ultimate aim should be tariffs that deliver a reasonable and stable rate of return and which fall in line with cost reductions in technology. Whether the Government has got those calculations right, is another matter.

“The solar tariffs fall so steeply that by July this year they could be lower than those for wind and hydro. It is a tall order – and solar companies have been vocal in their disbelief.

“I do think we have seen a change of ambition for solar, however. The government seems to have accepted that it has an important role to play and DECC seems genuinely keen to work with the industry to ensure that it can deliver on its huge potential.”

“Greg Barker wants the industry to change its mind-set on the meaning of “stability”. He talked about this when I interviewed him for REA news last week. See the interview on page 15 of REA news, at: http://www.r-e-a.net/resources/rea-publications”

A more complete response considering the details of the decisions and proposals is to follow.

Greg Barker, MP, Energy & Climate Change Minister

Plans to make the Feed-In Tariff scheme ‘more transparent’ and more predictable for the future, were announced today by the government. At the heart of the new initiative are said to be ‘transparency, longevity and certainty.’

Reforms to the scheme were said to ‘provide greater confidence to consumers and industry investing in exciting renewable technologies such as solar power, anaerobic digestion, micro-CHP, wind and hydro power.’

The Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme provided a subsidy, paid for by all consumers through their energy bills, enabling small scale renewable and low carbon technologies to  compete against  higher carbon forms of electricity generation.

The announcement claims: “The surge of solar PV installations in the latter part of last year, due to a 45% reduction in estimated installation costs since 2009, has placed a huge strain on the FITs budget.”

Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, said: “We are announcing plans to improve the Feed-in Tariffs scheme. Instead of a scheme for the few, the new improved scheme will deliver for the many.

“Our new plans will see almost two and a half times more installations than originally projected by 2015 which is good news for the sustainable growth of the industry.  We are proposing a more predictable and transparent scheme as the costs of technologies fall, ensuring a long term, predictable rate of return that will closely track changes in prices and deployment.

“I want to see a bright and vibrant future for small scale renewables in the UK and allow each of the technologies to reach their potential where they can get to a point where they can stand on their own two feet without the need for subsidy sooner rather than later.”

One criteria is that a tariff of 21p/kWh will take effect from 1 April this year for domestic-size solar panels with an eligibility date on or after 3 March 2012. Other tariff reductions apply for larger installations.

The government documents published today can be found at:

• Response to FITs Phase I consultation
• Comprehensive Review of Feed-in Tariffs – Phase 2A: Solar PV cost control (consultation closes on 3rd April)
• Comprehensive Review Phase 2B: Consultation on Feed-in Tariffs – Non-PV tariffs and scheme administration issues (consultation closes on 26th April)

The National Home Improvement Council remains somewhat sceptical about the true value of the government’s new Feed-In Tariff initiative as it continues to delay the real progress of the renewable industry’s contribution to reducing the UK housing stock’s vast carbon footprint!

Ed Davey, the government’s new Energy and Climate Change Secretary today launched a new offensive, with the creation of a dedicated team within DECC. This has been assembled to spearhead energy efficiency policy and make it more relevant to people’s everyday lives.

The new Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO) was announced at a meeting with industry at a branch of the John Lewis Partnership in London.

Mr Davey said: “I’m hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency. It’s the cheapest way of cutting carbon – and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do.

“EEDO will be a centre of expertise, challenging our work and making energy efficiency real and relevant to people’s everyday lives. Two out of three consumers think their home is wasting energy, but only one in three is going to do anything about it. That has to change. We need to get out there and show people what energy efficiency can really do for them.

“The Green Deal will play a huge part in this work and will also support jobs in the insulation and construction industries– as many as 65,000 right across the country by 2015. It can help us deliver a fairer, greener economy. And help us get young people back into work – or into work for the first time.

“The UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in the EU. But getting this right means as a nation we make energy savings over the next decade equivalent to two nuclear power stations while making everyone’s homes warmer and cheaper to run.

The 50-strong team, which will be based at DECC’s headquarters in London, will pull together expertise from across the Department. EEDO staff will continue to support the delivery of the Green Deal, the rollout of smart meters and the increase in renewable heat as well as developing a new energy efficiency strategy to identify the potential for further energy efficiency across the economy.