Wight Community Energy has been awarded an additional £58,547 from Power to Change to deliver new community-based renewable energy projects on the Isle of Wight throughout 2022.
The organisation will work with specialist partner organisations to pioneer innovative community-led, renewable energy and low carbon projects on the Isle of Wight, including Isle EV, the electric vehicle project, the Smart Hot Water Tank project in tourist accommodation and the E-Cargo Bike Delivery Demonstration project.
Colin Palmer, director of Wight Community Energy said:
“This funding allows us to expand our existing work as well as to develop exciting new projects. It enables us to maintain our staffing levels and work with others on projects that we could not possibly undertake alone. We look forward to getting these new projects off the ground and making real contributions towards net zero on the Isle of Wight.”
Megan Blyth, project officer at the Centre for Sustainable Energy who are administering the grant on behalf of Power to Change said:
“This Power to Change grant will support Wight Community Energy in developing innovative pilot projects and routes to reducing the impacts of the grid constraints on the Island. We are excited to see how this will lead to the expansion of sustainable energy and new community-based projects on the Isle of Wight.”
This funding will enable Wight Community Energy to continue working on projects that increase the Island’s renewable energy capacity, and to partner on exciting projects which will contribute to delivering the energy system transformation that is needed to ensure the Island’s net zero target of 2040 is met.
Great news carry on the good work
Yet more good agricultural land covered in solar panels rather than being used to grow our food locally. How exactly does that save carbon emisions?
Solar farms are normally installed on poor-quality land which the owner cannot make economic any other way. Once installed, the farms provide wildlife habitat free of people (and dogs) and responsible solar operators actively encourage biodiversity.
In a perfect world, every building would have a solar roof but governments have backed off making that a requirement for many years.