If you have missed the Trent Basin residents meetings held at the Trent Basin Community Hub on January and April 2017, here are some notes of the subjects discussed.
The purpose of the meetings was to explain Project SCENe’s Community Energy proposition. Meeting attendants included some of the Trent Basin Residents and representatives from the project partners: the University of Nottingham, Blueprint and SmatKlub.
Dr Lucelia Rodrigues presenting Project SCENe to Trent Basin Residents
Dr Lucelia Rodrigues from the University of Nottingham introduced some of the initial principles: “Many of us dream of having an energy efficient home that can be run independently from the energy grid. However, this is really difficult particularly because energy generation generally peak when most people are not at home”. Taking this into account, Dr Rodrigues further explained: “a community energy scheme allows you to collectively purchase and manage assets so you can increase onsite energy generation and use”.
“At the Phase 1 of the Trent Basin development, Project SCENe and ERA are enabling the installation of photovoltaics and batteries for energy generation and storage. An Energy Services Company (Trent Basin ESCO Ltd.) has also been set up to manage the assets so it is hassle free for you. Now all we need is for you to join us because without the community, the Community Energy doesn’t exist. So, it’s not only about the technology, it’s about the people”.
Professor Mark Gillott, also from the University of Nottingham, gave an update of the project status: “We are pretty much ready to get it going as we have got the necessary approvals by the distribution network operator who manage the grid and the planning permission to go ahead. The process has been complex but we have a system designed ready to go. Now is the time to engage with you as the potential end users of the system”.
Charles Bradshaw-Smith from SmartKlub presented the Trent Basin ESCO Ltd. SmartKlub will manage the Trent Basin ESCO Ltd created to manage the community energy scheme at the Trent Basin. Charles explained to the residents that “…in exchange for you lending us your roofs, walls and communal space, Trent Basin Ltd. will flood the area with green electrons while discounting your energy cost. The advantages of operating at scale are: we can get higher returns, we can deliver higher efficiency and we can give a certain level of guarantee”.
Nick Ebbs introducing Project SCENe
In the presentations it was explained that part of the income of Trent Basin Ltd will be shared with the residents in exchange for lending the space for photovoltaics. Nick Ebbs from Blueprint highlighted the basic message of the meetings “… this is an invitation to join the scheme. If you join the scheme, then you get a right to share in the surplus generated from the Trent Basin Ltd. There is not joining fee, there is no capital contribution. You join, you lend your roofs and that will be covered by a legal agreement that we’ll sort out with you, and in return you get a share of the surplus”.
The next residents meeting will be on 28th of June at 18:30 at the Trent Basin Community Hub. If you are a Resident at Trent Basin interested in hearing more about Project SCENe, please come and join us in this journey to create a community energy scheme and more sustainable energy systems.
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