Converting the electricity system over to carbon-free operation poses a huge challenge for the UK between now and 2050. It’s not simply a case of creating enough generating capacity to match the current maximum demand, that demand will be much greater with the switch from fossil fuels to more electrical means of providing both transport and heating.
Beyond this, the inconsistent generative capacity of renewables means that unless we can create more effective systems for energy storage, we will need generating capacity for electricity vastly exceeding what we currently produce.
Achieving this goal in time to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5°C will require that we use every means at our disposal to increase energy generation and one option for this is ‘community energy’, empowering communities to bring forward their renewable electricity generating projects.
The potential impact of community energy is hard to understate. In Demark 70-80% of all wind turbines are in community ownership and by 2014 50% of Gemany’s renewable energy generation was community owned. Estimates suggest that by 2030 community energy in the UK has the potential to power the equivant of 2.2m homes, creating almost 9,000 new jobs and adding an additional £18bn to the UK’s economy. Not only do these smaller-scale schemes all add up, but give the huge amount of power lost in the course of transmission, by having electricity generation located closer to where it is needed we reduce the level of overall generation needed.
This issue is of particular relevance to Crawley, where we are close to our limit for what the town’s current connection to the National Grid can sustain, so by generating more capacity downstream of that connection we have the ability to keep the lights on when people plug in their electric vehicle. However, achieving this will mean going way beyond the two small community energy schemes currently located in the town.
Unfortunately, a rapid expansion of the sector seems unlikely for now. Community schemes need pump-priming and the Government has put a mere £10m aside to facilitate new community energy projects, in contrast to the £265m pot now available for private developers to bring forward renewable schemes.
This is fixable. The Co-operative Party has been calling for a number of changes which would help to unleash the sleeping community energy giant, involving a combination of grants, tax reliefs, feed-in tariff commitments and regulatory changes. It’s the programme we need to ensure the UK harneses the potential of community energy as we head towards net zero
To learn more and see how you could help to make a difference, please go to: https://party.coop/locator
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Peter Lamb for Crawley 