ECSC will be supported by Energy4All in order to deliver the initiative, which is believed to be the largest community-owned urban renewable energy project in the UK. Solar panels will be installed on public buildings such as schools and leisure and community centres, thereby delivering significant environmental and social benefits to the community.
The installations will reduce Edinburgh’s carbon emissions by an estimated 855 tonnes per year in addition to providing cheaper electricity. Surplus energy will be sold to the National Grid and any profits made from the project will be reinvested locally through a newly-created Community Benefit Fund.
Shares in the project will be offered to organisations and individuals who want to invest in the initiative, with priority given to Edinburgh residents. Registration will be via ECSC. Members of the Co-op will receive annual interest on their investment (capped at five percent increasing with RPI), with any surplus profit invested in the Community Benefit fund.
“This is fantastic news for Edinburgh and will bring long term environmental, social and economic benefits” said Councillor Adam McVey, Vice Convener of Transport and Environment for the city. “Community energy co-operatives allow local people to play a part in building a greener, more sustainable environment whilst raising awareness more generally about the importance of being energy efficient. We are aiming to meet our target of reducing Edinburgh’s carbon emissions by 42 percent by 2020 and this project is an important step towards us achieving this.”
Dr Richard Dixon, Chair of the ECSC added that 2015 is an important year for action on climate change and that the Edinburgh scheme will provide cheap energy for schools and other council buildings while reducing climate emissions with local people getting a decent return on any money they choose to invest.
The solar panels will also help to deliver educational projects in order to engage pupils with environmental themes such as renewable energy. Each device will come with a real-time display of electricity generation which will be displayed on the buildings and accessible to pupils online.
Work is currently being carried out to identify potentially suitable sites for the panels with the locations to be announced at a later date.
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