Community Energy Society
In 2013 the South Brent Community Energy Society, established by members of Sustainable South Brent, installed a 225kW wind turbine at the eastern edge of the parish. Go to sbces.org.uk for more information.
Community Energy is where individuals and local groups come together to develop renewable energy projects larger than domestic size. South Brent uses almost £2million worth of energy each year – if a portion of this can be derived from local renewable resources the economic and environmental benefits are clear. By supporting facilities that are used by all, there are social benefits too.
sbces.org.ukSouth Brent Community Energy Society’s wind turbine generated 329MWh in the year to the end of March 2017 (the third full year of operation) and the PV panels on the Recreation Ground’s pavilion just over 9MWh. To date, £34,000 of surplus from the sale of the electricity and the Feed-in-Tariff has been granted to local organisations to improve their building’s energy efficiency, including in the last year solar panels on the Village Hall and LED lighting and boiler upgrades in the Parish Church. Further energy saving measures for other community buildings are in the pipeline.