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London Community Energy Fund Phase Seven

The seventh round of the LCEF is managed by Community Energy London. The Mayor has offered up to £385,000 to runner-up projects that applied to phase six.

This funding will support the installation of up to 600 kWp of community owned solar PV as well as other low carbon heating and energy saving measures at schools, places of worship, leisure centres and other community buildings. This round will also contribute to the development of a further 2.2 MWp of community owned solar PV with funding for feasibility studies.

Details of each of the projects offered funding will be provided after the London Mayoral elections, once all funding agreements have been signed.

Details of the projects offered funding through previous rounds are given below.

You can still view the prospectus for phase six here.

If you have any queries related to the fund please contact: [email protected]

 

Projects previously supported by the LCEF

Details of all supported projects are shown below by phase of funding.

28 projects have been offered grant funding through the sixth round of the London Community Energy Fund accross four streams: Stream A projects cover development and feasibility projects for community energy; Stream B  provides capital support for the installation of carbon reduction measures; Stream C projects include pre-feasibility and audits for future community energy projects and Stream D projects include community training and engagement with community energy activities.

Stream A projects

Barn Croft Primary School

Solar for Schools community benefit society have secured up to £15,000 to undertake a feasibility project for a 70 kWp solar PV array that could reduce the school’s emissions by 12 tonnes CO2e per year. The project is part of Waltham Forrest’s POWER STATION movement, a resident led community initiative to build a community owned renewable power station on the rooftops of local streets, schools and community buildings.

Henry Maynard Junior School

This is the second Solar for Schools solar PV feasibility project as part of Waltham Forrest’s POWER STATION movement (see Barn Croft Primary School above). Up to £15,000 has been secured to assess the feasibility of an 80 kWp solar PV array that will reduce the school’s emissions by 13 tonnes CO2e per year. Solar for schools will run an awareness raising campaign to promote opportunities to participate in the project with residents.

Net-Zero St. Mark’s and St. Andrew’s Parish Surbiton

St Mark’s and St Andrew’s have secured up to £12,491 to undertake a feasibility study for a total of 25 kWp of solar PV across the two Surbiton churches in Kingston upon Thames. The two churches, one of which is grade II listed, will also undertake an energy audit to identify other energy saving measures at the site.

LED Lighting in Southwark

Sustainable Energy 24 (SE24) have secured up to £14,000 for low energy lighting development projects across four sites in Southwark: St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, Victory Primary School, Dulwich Wood Primary School and Bermondsey Central Hall. SE24 will work with the sites to undertake lighting audits, procure efficient lighting and develop lighting service agreements (LSAs) that will reduce running costs for the sites. The LSAs wo;; generate revenue for SE24’s community fund to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions by up to 32 tonnes CO2e per year across the four sites.

Repowering Hammersmith and Fulham North

Repowering London have secured up to £14,954 to develop an estimated 368kWp of community owned solar PV at three sites: St John XXIII Catholic Primary School (87kWp), Wendell Park Primary School (37kWp) and Phoenix Fitness Centre (224 kWp). The project will help to establish Hammersmith and Fulham’s first community energy co-operative, involving local residents as leaders and incorporating other sites into the scheme.

Repowering Hammersmith and Fulham South

Repowering London have secured up to a further to £9,725 to develop an estimated 387 kWp of community owned solar as part of the wider project in Hammersmith and Fulham (see above). Repowering London will determine the feasibility of solar installations at Bagley’s Lane Depot (196 kWp) and Normand Croft Community School (191 kWp) with the aim of getting the installations live by March 2024.

Lambeth Community Solar Phase 4

Repowering London have secured up to £9,965 to expand the portfolio of the Lambeth Community Solar energy co-op’s generation capacity by 210 kWp by developing solar PV feasibility studies at Whittington NHS community health centre (83 kWp) and the Ark Evelyn Grace Academy (127 kWp). Repowering will also work with the community to co-design and develop the project to help residents without direct access to solar PV to benefit from the technology.

Repowering Newham - Schools

Repowering London have secured up to £14,930 to develop solar PV installations at three schools across Newham: St Luke’s Primary School, Ellen Wilkinson Primary School and Godwin Junior School. Repowering hope to develop 490 kWp of community owned solar across the three schools which will form part of the continuing development of community energy projects in Newham.

Repowering Newham - Residential

Repowering London have secured up to £10,683 to develop solar PV installations on residential roofs across the Hands Walk neighbourhood.  The project will be used to create a toolkit for social housing community installations that allow residents to directly benefit from reduced rate electricity produced locally using an Energy Local Club model. The project expects to develop up to 478kWp of solar PV to benefit over 430 households in the area with gross savings of £36,000 on energy bills.

Stream B projects

Sustainable Solar Project

ARK Coworking have secured up to £9,957 towards the costs of a 28kWp solar PV array. ARK are a charity that provide affordable coworking community spaces working with local freelances, startups and small businesses. They members of the Islington Sustainability Network and participants in the Mayor’s Business Climate Challenge and have embarked on a programme to reduce their energy consumption and environmental impact. The installation will save over four tonnes of CO2e per year and reduce energy costs by over £7,400 per year.

SOURCE: Scaling an urban, decentralised approach to circular bioresource management

MAD LEAP CIC have secured up to £39,775 to install a micro-scale anaerobic digestion plant on the Teviot Estate in Poplar, Tower Hamlets. The system will part of a closed-loop energy from food-waste system, using the power generated to grow urban crops and mushrooms. The project will bring on board residents and local schools to take part in system’s operation and collection of food waste.

Renewable Wolves Lane

Wolves Lane Consortium’s have secured up to £33,056 towards the installation of a 40kW of solar PV and air-source heat-pump at their community centre and growing space in Haringey. The project will avoid around 8.5 tonnes CO2e per year and save the site £6,000 a year in running costs, allowing them to scale up activities including food growing training, healthy cooking classes, school visits.

Walthamstow School for Girls

Solar for Schools CBS have secured up to £15,673 towards the installation of a 100 kWp solar PV array at Walthamstow School for Girls. This project is part of the POWER STATION movement – a community initiative started by Waltham Forest residents to build a renewable power station across their community’s roofs. The solar panels will save 17 tonnes of CO2e per year and help to reduce the school’s running costs by over £12,000 per year.

Heron Hall Academy

Solar for Schools CBS have secured up to £19,896 towards the installation of a 140 kWp solar PV array at Heron Hall Academy in Enfield. The solar panels will reduce the school’s emissions by almost 25 tonnes CO2e per year and reduce running costs by almost £5,000 per year. As part of the project Solar for Schools will offer workshops with students and the wider community to learn about the solar array and to understand the broader energy system context.

Gwyn Jones Primary School

Solar for Schools CBS have secured up to £10,873 towards the installation of a 70 kWp solar PV array at Gwyn Jones Primary School in Waltham Forest. This is another project that is part of the POWER STATION movement – a community initiative started by Waltham Forest residents to build a renewable power station across their community’s roofs. The solar panels will save nearly 12 tonnes of CO2e per year and help to reduce the school’s running costs by over £1,000 per year.

Ealing Schools Solar - Khalsa Primary School

Schools' Energy Co-operative in association with Ealing Transition have secured up to £19,917 towards the installation of a 35.7 kWp solar PV array at Khalsa VA Primary School in Southall, Ealing. Khalsa school is a Sikh faith school catering for pupils from nursery to year six and also provides adult literacy support. The panels will reduce the school’s emissions by 6 tonnes of CO2e per year and reduce the school’s running costs by over £3,000 per year.

Caxton House – Phase 3

Power Up North London (PUNL) have secured up to £47,716 towards the installation of an air-source heat-pump (ASHP) and mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system (MVHR) at Caxton House community centre in Islington. This is part of a decarbonisation project started in 2021 designing a net zero pathway for Caxton House which has seen solar panels and high-performance triple glazing installed. The new heating system and MVHR will help the site to save over 18 tonnes CO2e per year and reduce the site’s running costs by £37,000 per year.

Stream C Projects

Coulsdon CofE Primary School Energy Efficiency Evaluation

Retrofit Action for Tomorrow (RAFT) have secured up to £5,000 to work with Coulsdon Church of England Primary School in Croydon to develop an energy reduction plan. The school currently has an F rating for energy efficiency and is responsible for roughly 50 tonnes CO2e per year from heating and electricity usage. RAFT will work with the school to assess the schools fabric and energy usage patterns in order to identify potential retrofit plans. RAFT will hold an event with the school community to discuss what further actions can be achieved with the funding and time available to the school.

Retrofit Pre-Feasibility for Community Buildings in South London

South London Community Energy (SELCE) have secured up to £10,000 towards the development of a pipeline of retrofit projects across Greenwich, Croydon and Bromley. SELCE will engage with owners of community buildings across the three boroughs to produce retrofit and low energy lighting pre-feasibility reports for ten sites.

Street by Street Solar

Optimistic Foundation CIC have secured up to £5,000 to continue their work as part of the Waltham Forest POWER STATION building community owned solar PV across the roofs of homes, schools and community buildings. The funding will enable Optimistic Foundation to build a community engagement toolkit so that more neighbourhoods can follow their path and develop their own solar projects.

The RJ4All Rotherhithe Community Centre

Restorative Justice for All (RJ4All) have secured up to £5,000 to co-design and map out the potential to decarbonise their community centre. The funding will be used to engage the centre’s users who will produce recommendations regarding the installation of Solar PV and other energy saving measures that will reduce the site’s carbon emissions

Energy-Saving Audit & Community Workshops

The West London Synagogue of British Jews have secured up to £5,000 to carry out community energy saving workshops with its congregation and to produce an eco-audit and project development plan to reduce carbon at the West London Synagogue.

Stream D Projects

Creative Energy Clubs

Repowering London have secured up to £5,000 to run arts-based workshops with residents in Newham and Lambeth. The projects will be used as a vehicle to engage and educate community members about the energy system and climate crisis. It will work alongside the renewable energy co-ops that Repowering have developed and are developing in the boroughs to bring in more of the community as members.

Retrofit in St Johns

South London Community Energy (SELCE) have secured up to £5,000 to increase awareness of domestic energy retrofit amongst the St John’s community in Lewisham. SELCE will train two retrofit champions who will host retrofit parties inviting community members into their homes to talk about the retrofit measures they have taken and help to show the community what they too can do to improve the thermal performance of their home.

SDBE School Energy Engagement Programme

Retrofit Action for Tomorrow (RAFT) have secured up to £25,000 to work with five schools within the Southwark Diocese Board of Education (SDBE) across Greenwich, Croydon, Wandsworth and Southwark. The programme will run a series of workshops engaging school staff and pupils with discussions about the climate emergency and decarbonisation and whole-building retrofitting of the schools. Students and staff will develop a carbon footprint of their school, and learn about the skills required and careers involved in the action needed to make their school zero-carbon.

Student Solar PV Internships

South London Community Energy (SELCE) have secured up to £5,000 to train and give practical experience to students at Greenwich University to undertake a community solar PV design and feasibility assessment. SELCE will work with six students at the Avery Hill campus who will design a solar array for the university.

The following projects have been awarded funding under the fifth phase of LCEF:

Transformative Actions

ArtsAdmin is an arts charity that manages Toynbee Studios in Tower Hamlets. They have been awarded £38,000 to replace the building’s heating system with heat pumps. Toynbee Studios hope to become carbon neutral by 2025.

Capital City Academy Solar Panels

Brent Pure Energy have been awarded £37,000 to install solar PV on the roof of Capital City Academy in Brent. As well as reducing emissions and saving the school money on electricity costs, they hope to use this project in the school’s curriculum and raise awareness of environmental issues among the local community.

Renewable Energy Feasibility Options Appraisal

Christ Church Sutton have been awarded £5,000 to explore low carbon options to replace their existing boilers.

Croydon Community Energy

In collaboration with Croydon Community Energy, CREW Energy have been awarded £10,000 to carry out a variety of feasibility studies on a local football club and a school. They will explore solar PV, heat pumps and BMS (building management system) options.

EcoSynagogue Zero Carbon Programme

EcoSynagogue have received £5,000 to undertake eco audits of synagogues in London with the eventual aim of making energy efficiency improvements to the synagogue buildings.

Fairhazel Co-operative Carbon Reduction Retrofitting Scoping Study

Fairhazel Housing Co-operative have secured £15,000 to carry out an energy efficiency study on a 19th century housing block in Camden.

Farming Energy

Freightliners Farm have been awarded £5,900 to carry out a solar PV and energy storage feasibility study on their city farm in Islington.

St Mildred’s Church

St Mildred’s Church in Lewisham have received £4,800 to carry out feasibility studies to find a low carbon alternative to their existing boilers.

Caxton House Decarbonisation Project – Phase 2

Following the success of their LCEF4 project at Caxton House, PUNL have been awarded £47,000 to continue the refurbishment of their community centre. This will include installing a BMS, mechanical heat recovery and ventilation. They have future plans to install a renewable heating system.

Lambeth Community Solar Phase IV – Saint Jude’s CofE Primary School

Repowering have been awarded £4,396 to explore feasibility of solar PV on Saint Jude’s Primary School in Lambeth.

NKCE Phase IV – Roman Catholic Schools

Repowering have been awarded £15,000 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on three schools in Kensington & Chelsea.

NKCE Phase IV – Notting Dale

Repowering have been awarded £15,000 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on two housing estates and a leisure centre in Kensington & Chelsea.

Repowering Newham Phase I – E6

Repowering have been awarded £14,890 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on two libraries and a primary school in Newham.

Repowering Newham Phase I – E15

Repowering have been awarded £12,980 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on one library and one leisure centre, also in Newham.

Repowering Barnet – Moss Hall Schools Federation

Repowering have been awarded £10,945 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on Moss Hall Schools Federation’s infant and junior schools. The junior school will also have a heat pump feasibility study carried out to explore heating their swimming pool water in a low carbon way.

Wandsworth Schools

Schools’ Energy Co-operative have received £36,296 to install solar PV on four schools across Wandsworth.

Ealing Schools – 2021 pre-feasibility study

Schools’ Energy Co-operative and Ealing Transition have been jointly awarded £4,800 to carry out a solar PV potential analysis of all 92 publicly funded schools and 27 children’s centres in Ealing.

St Bernadette’s, Harrow

In association with Schools’ Energy Co-operative, Ealing Transition have been awarded £8,500 to install solar PV on a school in Harrow.

Greenwich LED Lighting Feasibility

SELCE have been awarded £14,878 to carry out LED feasibility studies on eight sites in Greenwich.

Greenwich West Community Centre LED’ing the Way

SELCE have been awarded £2,250 to carry out LED light replacement at the community and arts centre In Greenwich. Proceeds from the lighting service agreement will pay into SELCE’s community share offer.

Riverside SPC School LED’ing the Way

SELCE have been awarded £4,500 to carry out LED light replacement works at Riverside SPC School in Bromley.

V22 Community Libraries

SELCE have been awarded £2,350 to carry out LED light replacement works at two libraries in Lewisham.

Greenwich, Lewisham and Bromley LED lighting feasibility

SELCE have been awarded £7,500 to identify and engage buildings suitable for LED retrofits and to produce communication materials, alongside Greenwich, Lewisham and Bromley councils.

MyTime Active Solar and Heat Pump

SELCE have been awarded £7,500 to carry out solar PV and heat pump feasibility studies on this community centre building in Bromley.

PV panels at St Andrew’s Church, Waterloo

St John’s Church Waterloo have been awarded £5,000 to install solar PV on the roof of St Andrew’s Church in Southwark.

St Laurence Catford air source heat pump

St Laurence Church & Centre in Catford have been awarded £50,000 to install an air source heat pump in their church’s community centre in Lewisham.

Renewal and greening of internal lighting system

St Peter’s Parochial Church Council have been awarded £17,500 to redesign and install LED lighting in their church in Lambeth.

New Wave Schools Solar Panel Study

Stokey Energy have been awarded £14,000 to carry out solar PV feasibility studies on three schools in Hackney.

Leaside Trust’s energy reduction feasibility

Stokey Energy have been awarded £15,000 to carry out a solar PV feasibility study and a retrofit assessment on a community centre in Hackney.

Hackney Empire Renewable Energy Project

Stokey Energy have been awarded £10,000 to carry out a solar PV feasibility study on Hackney Empire theatre.

Bethnal Primary School Energy Project

Stokey Energy have been awarded £10,500 to carry out a solar PV feasibility study and explore other energy efficiency options on Benthal Primary School in Hackney.

Rio Cinema Solar Panel Installation

Following on from the success of their LCEF4 Rio Cinema feasibility project, Stokey Energy have been awarded £3,985 to install solar panels on their roof of their art deco cinema in Hackney.

OneStonegrove Net Zero Carbon

Following on from their LCEF4 feasibility project, Stonegrove Community Trust have been awarded £26,512 to install solar PV on the roof of their community centre in Barnet.

Southwark LED lighting sites

SE24 (Sustainable Energy 24) have been awarded £4,961 to identity and engage with community buildings suitable for LED retrofits and to produce communication materials, alongside Southwark Council.

LED lighting for Goodrich Community Primary School

SE24 were also awarded £10,900 to install LED lighting at Goodrich Primary School in East Dulwich. The new lighting will reduce the school’s carbon emissions and increase awareness of energy efficiency amongst the students and staff.

The Lordship Hub Solar Panels

The Lordship Hub in Haringey have been awarded £7,000 to install additional solar PV on their community centre.

POWER

The Powerful Community Benefit Society have been awarded £6,000 to carry out a solar PV feasibility study for a proposed solar power station for residents in Walthamstow and deep retrofit measures for homeowners.

Tindlemanor Building Decarbonisation

Tindlemanor have been awarded £5,000 to explore various ways of generating, storing, and using energy within their building in Islington. They will carry out an assessment of charging points and heat pumps and hope to also include the opportunity to apply demand shifting through time-of-day tariffs.

Vine Goes Green

Vine URC Church in Redbridge have been awarded £8,810 to carry out a feasibility study of energy efficiency, renewable heating and solar PV on their church’s community centre.

World Heart Beat

World Heart Beat Music Academy in Wandsworth have been awarded £4,800 to carry out a feasibility study for a low carbon alternative to their current boilers.

38 community energy projects were awarded up to a total of £539,000 for the fourth phase of LCEF.

Little Ray of Sunshine

CREW Energy have been awarded £7,500 to undertake feasibility work to consider installing solar PV across up to three schools in Wandsworth and Kingston.

Katherine Low Settlement Building Sustainability
CREW Energy secured up to £8,500 to enable the retrofit of the Katherine Low Settlement (KLS) building in Wandsworth with small scale solar PV, building management system and LED lighting replacement. This is estimated to save ten tonnes of carbon per annum alongside reducing energy bills for heating and electricity for the charity. KLS supports children, young people, older people, women, refugees and newly arrived communities through a range of community activities and events.

Polka Theatre Retrofit
CREW Energy were awarded a grant in the third round of LCEF to help refurbish the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. With that grant, they explored installing measures like a heat pump, solar panels, LED lighting and other energy efficiency measures. With a fourth round grant of up to £23,000 through Stream B, CREW Energy will be able to install a heat pump, building management system and LED lighting to make the theatre more energy efficient.

Ealing post-FiT educational sites
Ealing Transition and the Schools’ Energy Cooperative have been awarded £22,400 to deliver solar PV panels on four schools (with a total capacity of around 83 kWp), with grant funding making projects financially viable post Feed-in-Tariff.

Energy Garden & Barts NHS Trust
Energy Garden will use up to £15,000 to identify opportunities for installing community owned solar PV on hospital rooftops. The partnership between Barts Health NHS Trust and Energy Garden is the basis for a new community energy project centred around five of London’s largest hospitals and the project could deliver up to 250 kWp of new solar capacity.

Fulham Good Neighbours Energy Project
Fulham Good Neighbours will use up to £6,700 to identify opportunities for installing solar PV on their community centre, located in Hammersmith & Fulham, setting an example of sustainable operations.

St Johns Kensal Green
Fulham Good Neighbours are working with St John’s Church in Westminster to use £9,200 of grant funding to assess the viability for installation of solar PV and an air source heat pump. This aims to maximise the energy generating potential of the roof, so far as economically viable, and; minimise the amounts of mains gas and electricity consumed by St John’s. The project aims to become a training centre for the local community in how to maintain the solar PV and ASHP.

 

Magdalen Estate Energy Transformation
Watmos Community Homes are looking to upgrade the energy efficiency of the Magdalen Estate in Lambeth. With their grant of £11,100, they will explore the feasibility of installing solar panels, battery storage and electric vehicle charging points in addition to upgrading the communal lighting to LEDs. Watmos will encourage estate residents to participate in the installation of these measures and promote energy savings amongst residents.

 

Edward Woods Centre
Urban Partnership Group (UPG) will build on the previous success of the Edward Woods Centre which received a grant from LCEF round 3 to fund a solar feasibility study. With a grant of £17,500, UPG can now install 89 solar panels and 3 inverters on the roof of this community centre in Kensington & Chelsea.

 

OneStonegrove Net Zero Carbon
Stonegrove Community Trust have been awarded £12,300 to explore the feasibility of installing solar panels on their community centre building. They estimate a solar installation could save them 13 tonnes of carbon a year. The Stonegrove Community trust provides training and a mentoring programme to empower local residents and potentially turn their ideas into businesses.

 

Stoke Newington School Solar Installation
Stokey Energy have been awarded £19,000 to install solar panels on Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form. They estimate this will save the school 9 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Rio Cinema Renewable Energy
In the first of their two solar projects, Stokey Energy have been awarded £7,000 for a solar feasibility study on this Grade II listed art deco cinema in Hackney. Alongside these two projects, Stokey Energy’s directors are developing a work experience and training programme with UK Solar Generation for local young people.

 

Mildmay Club
Stokey Energy have also been awarded £6,000 to explore installing solar panels on this Grade II listed social club, also in Hackney.

 

Whitton Community Hub
Ss Philip & James Parochial Church Council have been awarded £7,500 for a feasibility study for low carbon heating options at the Whitton Community Hub in Richmond.

 

Renewal of Internal Lighting
St Luke's Parochial Church Council have been awarded £17,500 to install LED lighting at their church in Greenwich as part of the church’s plan to develop a community hub. They estimate this upgrade will save them 2.6 tonnes of carbon a year. The church hopes the upgrade will encourage wider use of the community space.

 

St John’s Church Waterloo
St John’s Church, Waterloo in Lambeth will use their grant of £30,000 to install 114 solar panels on their roof. They estimate this will save 15 tonnes of carbon a year. The financial savings from the eventual drop in energy bills will be used to increase their successful employment training for young people and support residents of local homelessness hostels in seeking work and develop skills. This is part of their ReIGNITE project which will develop skills for 120 people and involve 2000 people in community projects.

 

Young Lewisham
In the first of several grants, South East London Community Energy (SELCE) have been awarded £15,000 for a solar feasibility study on the building hub of the Young Lewisham project. As well as aiming to save 3.75 tonnes of carbon a year, SELCE will also be offering a 10-week internship to young people as part of this project.

 

St Edward's Church Mottingham
SELCE have secured £6,000 to explore solar feasibility on St Edward’s the Confessor Church in Bromley. They estimate this will save the church 4.7 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

GLL Children’s Centres
With a £12,000 grant, SELCE will carry out solar feasibility studies on three children’s centres across Greenwich. They estimate this will collectively save the centres 28.5 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Charlton Athletic Community Trust
SELCE have been awarded a grant of £5,000 for a feasibility study on a Charlton Athletic Trust building in Eltham, which would save the Trust an estimated 2.77 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Bromley Wider Sites

SELCE have secured a £15,000 grant to carry out solar feasibility studies on a variety of Bromley Council-owned buildings. SELCE estimate solar installations could save these buildings an impressive 59.45 tonnes of carbon between them each year.

 

Bromley Maintained Schools
For their final solar feasibility project of LCEF round 4, SELCE have been awarded £15,000 to explore installing solar panels on 6 local authority schools across Bromley. They hope these measures will collectively save 49.46 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

North Dulwich Rooftop Solar
Sustainable Energy 24 (SE24) have secured a grant of £14,250 to undertake solar feasibility studies on 3 buildings owned by the Charter School North Dulwich. These solar panels would save the school an estimated 22 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

LED for Charter School North Dulwich
In the first of two LED projects, SE24 have been awarded £44,900 to install LED lighting at the Charter School North Dulwich. This upgrade will save the school 24.4 tonnes of carbon a year. The upfront cost of the lighting installation will be funded through a community share offer, which will assist the school in benefiting from financial savings year on year – paying back on a “pay as you save” model.

 

LED for Charles Dickens Primary School
In their second LED project, SE24 will use a grant of £11,400 to install LED lighting at Charles Dicken’s Primary School in Southwark. This will save the school 5.74 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Repowering Westminster
In the first of several grants, Repowering have secured £13,300 for solar feasibility studies on the Stowe Centre and Westminster Academy. Repowering estimate these measures could save 34 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Lambeth Community Solar - Myatt's Park and Remakery

Repowering will use a grant of £11,600 to explore solar feasibility of two community buildings across the Myatt’s Park & Remakery sites which could ultimately save the buildings 14.88 tonnes of carbon. Repowering will also mentor and support a group of volunteers as part of this project.

Lambeth Community Solar - Max Roach & Marcus Lipton
Repowering will use another grant of £11,600 to carry out solar feasibility studies across the Max Roach and Marcus Lipton buildings in Lambeth. Repowering estimate this PV will save 16.35 tonnes of carbon a year. Again, Repowering will mentor and support a group of volunteers as part of this project and their commitment to driving social and environmental change in the area.

 

Aldgate Solar Power - City of London School for Girls
With a grant of £6,000, Repowering will carry out a solar feasibility study at the City of London School for Girls. They estimate a solar installation could save the school 7.25 tonnes of carbon a year. Within this project, Repowering will also mentor and support a group of volunteers.

 

Aldgate Solar Power
Repowering will use a £15,000 grant to carry out solar feasibility studies across 3 schools in Southwark and Islington. These installations would save an impressive 69.27 tonnes of carbon a year across all 3 schools.

 

Paradise Park
In collaboration with Power Up North London (PUNL), Islington Play Association will use their £2,300 grant to install LED lighting at the Paradise Park Children’s Centre in Islington. This lighting upgrade will save the centre 1.8 tonnes of carbon a year.

 

Leytonstone Academy
The HEET Project have been awarded £14,700 to carry out a solar feasibility study on an underused construction centre in Waltham Forest. The grant will also help retrofit the building, eventually turning it into a ‘green academy’ where Londoners can development their retrofit skills for jobs in the low carbon economy.

 

Organ Loft Insulation

The Parochial Church Council of St Mary, Islington have been awarded £4,000 to insulate their organ’s loft space. This will reduce drafts and energy costs. They hope these measures will save almost one tonne of carbon a year.

 

Caxton House Community Centre (X2)
Power Up North London (PUNL) have been awarded two grants to develop the Caxton House Community Centre building. Their first grant of £13,400 will fund a heat pump feasibility study. PUNL estimate a heat pump will save Caxton House 21 tonnes of carbon. A second grant of £50,000 will be used to retrofit the Caxton House Community Centre building to reduce its heat demand, including installing triple glazed windows, a Heat Recovery Ventilation system and a building management system.

 

Empowering School Communities to Increase Energy Efficiency
PUNL have been awarded £12,000 to develop and test a modular assistance package for schools to help them reduce their carbon emissions. PUNL will work with several schools across Barnet, Camden and Haringey and they hope to collectively save at least 24 tonnes of carbon a year.

17 community energy projects were awarded a total of £188,000 in the third phase of the London Community Energy Fund.

Projects that were awarded funding included:

Polka Theatre

CREW Energy will lead a project to maximise sustainability and energy efficiency at the Polka theatre in Wimbledon as the theatre is undergoing major refurbishment. With a grant of £14,870, a wide range of technologies will be assessed including heat pump, solar PV, LED lighting, EV charging point, etc.

Ealing and Harrow schools (1)

Ealing Transition and the Schools’ Energy Coop have been awarded £14,700 to progress pre-registered schools towards the final stages of development to get solar panels installed. They will be undertaking structural surveys on schools in Ealing and Harrow and also on the West Thames College. They anticipate being able to install as much as 350 kWp of solar capacity in total.

Ealing and Harrow schools (2)

Ealing Transition and the Schools’ Energy Coop have been awarded another grant of £15,000 towards early feasibility studies to install solar panels on up to another 12 schools in Ealing and Harrow.

Solar on GTR depots

Energy Gardens will use £15,000, as well as other third-party funding, to look at the feasibility of installing solar PV panels on four Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) depots. These would be large installations leading to up to 2,394kWp of solar capacity.

Solar on TfL sites

Another project from Energy Gardens will look at the feasibility of installing solar PV panels on seven Transport for London (TfL) sites. The £7,200 grant will provide funding for feasibility work on sites such as the Transport Museum and some depots. In total up to 626 kWp of solar capacity could be installed.

John Burns primary school sustainability

John Burns primary school in Wandsworth is receiving £4,800 to fund feasibility work to make the school more sustainable. The school wants to look at the possibility of installing 40kWp of solar panels on the school as well as battery storage and potentially energy conservation measures.

LJ Works Anaerobic Digester

Repowering London is pursuing an anaerobic digester project on the site of LJ Works, a flexible work space hub in Loughborough Junction, Lambeth. The £14,994 awarded will part-fund the feasibility and development work for this community-owned anaerobic digester with the feed coming from local supply and the energy produced being used by the business units in LJ Works.

Summerland Gardens

En10ergy will use the £15,000 awarded to investigate installing a solar PV canopy on the Summerland Gardens car park in Haringey. The idea being that the electricity produced could be sold to the adjacent M&S store and feed EV charging points in the car park.

Camden Children’s Centre

Power Up North London has been awarded £5,650 to fund feasibility studies to install 23 kWp of solar panels on the roof of the Kilburn Grange Children’s Centre in Camden. The capital cost will be obtained through a community share offer.

Camden schools

Power Up North London has been awarded a further £13,800 to fund feasibility studies to install up to 100 kWp of solar panels on Haverstock school and Hampstead school in Camden. The capital cost will be obtained through a community share offer.

Greening the Green

Power Up North London wants to make the Muswell Hill Golf Club in Haringey ‘green’. The £7,420 will be used to run feasibility studies towards the installation of 30 kWp of solar panels on the Golf Club. The capital cost will be obtained through a community share offer.

Lambeth Community Energy phase 2

After the success of the Lambeth Community Energy project (which received development funding under phase 2 of LCEF), Repowering London is looking to add three more schools to the project. £15,000 has been awarded to expand that community energy project and lead to a further 160 kWp of solar capacity installed.

North Kensington Community Energy part 3

The North Kensington Community Energy project has bene a successful project, initially developed thanks to LCEF. Repowering London is now looking to add more sites to the project, including two schools and a church. This could add a further 150 kWp of solar capacity to the project and the cost of the panels will be raised through a community share offer.

Community LED in South East London

SE24 is going to use the £10,730 awarded to target eight community buildings across Southwark and Lewisham to retrofit lighting to low-energy LED lights. The project will be delivered in partnership with SELCE.

Besson Street Community Garden

£2,943 has been allocated to SELCE towards feasibility work for installing an Air Source Heat Pump at the Besson Street Community main classroom building in Lewisham. This could provide renewable heat to the building.

North Lewisham schools

SELCE will undertake to get LED lighting installed in two Lewisham schools to save carbon and energy at these schools. A grant of £9,827 has been awarded towards the feasibility work.

Catford schools

£12,420 will go to SELCE to pay for feasibility and development work for installing solar panels at one school and LED lighting retrofit at two schools, all in Lewisham.

18 community energy projects were awarded a total of £182,000 in the second phase of the London Community Energy Fund, covering projects across 13 different London boroughs. The successful proposals include developing solar projects (in time to still benefit from the Feed-in tariff due to end in April 2019), installing electric vehicle charging points, adding battery storage to solar PV panels or even developing a community off-grid hybrid renewable system.



Projects that were awarded funding included:

Aldgate Solar Power

Aldgate Solar Power has been awarded £12,450 to develop a project aiming to install around 200 solar panels on the Middlesex Street Estate (City of London), which includes flats, a library and a community centre. The project will be supported by Repowering London and also funded through a community share offer.

Aluna

The charity The Aluna Foundation, partnering with South East London Community Energy (SELCE), has been awarded £14,607. This project will put up around 400 solar panels on the InterContinental Hotel and Ballroom roof, near the O2 in North Greenwich. The panels will provide renewable, low cost power to Aluna, a major zero carbon public landmark and waterfront space for London, which is in development at Point Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula Waterfront at 0° longitude, directly adjacent to the hotel. The project anticipates selling any surplus energy to the hotel, helping to reduce its carbon emissions.

BBBC Community Solar

Bromley-by-Bow Centre, in Tower Hamlets, has been awarded £11,950 towards a project to install solar panels on their community centre. They aim to install around 56 solar panels. The renewable system will be used to raise awareness of clean energy to their community and any profit form the FiT would go into a community fund that can be used to support existing fuel poverty advice services.



Devas

Community Renewable Energy Wandsworth (CREW) has been awarded £12,500 to upgrade the LED lighting and Building Management System at the Devas Youth Club in Wandsworth. This will reduce carbon emissions by 35 per cent at the centre. It will also make long-term savings on energy bills, enabling income to be spent on service delivery to young people or other essential building upgrades. Funding will come from a community share offer.



Ealing Schools, Second Wave

Following their successful project under phase one, Ealing Transition, in partnership with the School’s Energy Cooperative, has been awarded £15,000 to look at the feasibility of installing solar panels on a further five to six schools in Ealing. They hope to install approximately 480 solar panels. One of the aims is not only to provide cheaper electricity for the schools but also to inspire pupils, families and staff to become renewable energy champions.



Ealing and Harrow Schools

A second Ealing Transition/School’s Energy Cooperative project, has been awarded £15,000 to carry out structural surveys and feasibility studies to install solar panels on more schools in Ealing, as well as to lay the foundation for up to 12 schools in the neighbouring borough of Harrow. The project hopes to install around 400-480 solar panels.

Edward Woods Community Centre

London Sustainable Exchange (LSx) has been awarded £6,130 to install solar panels on the Edward Woods Community Centre in Hammersmith & Fulham. The owners of the community centre hope the electricity savings and income from the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) will be able to fund additional projects at the community centre, such as increasing the capacity of the Community Kitchen. They hope to install around 85 solar panels, which should generate just under 20,000 kWh per year.

Elizabeth House Community Centre

Highbury Vale Blackstock Trust has been awarded £2,666 to finish development and feasibility work towards the installation of solar panels on Elizabeth House community centre, Islington. They hope to install around 45 solar panels.

Fortismere School

En10ergy has been awarded £4,350 to explore installing solar panels on the roof of Fortismere School’s science block in Haringey. The school will use 100 per cent of the electricity generated. They hope to install around 120 solar panels.

Greener Homes

South East London Community Energy (SELCE) has been awarded £14,901 to develop a model towards energy efficiency improvement and behavioural change for the-able-to-pay domestic market. Homeowners can choose to have a thorough survey of their property which will highlight where energy efficiency work could save them money and help them switch to green energy providers. They aim to reach 400 people.

Holly Lodge EV

Holly Lodge Estate Committee has been awarded £1,882 to develop a project and get planning permission to install electric vehicle charging stations on the Holly Lodge Estate in Camden.

Housing Coop

South East London Community Energy (SELCE) has also been awarded £14,837 to develop a business model for solar panels on housing cooperatives. Housing blocks comprise a significant portion of roofs in London but have historically lacked the self-consumption to make a solar PV system financially viable. SELCE will develop a model to make such installation financially viable and benefit housing cooperatives. The capital will be raised through a community share offer.

Lambeth Community Energy

Repowering has been awarded £15,000 to look at installing solar panels on four buildings owned by Lambeth Council and one academy school. In order to get the FiT before it ends, Repowering would seek funding from a bridging loan and then a community share offer. They hope to install around 800 solar panels.

Masbro Centre

London Sustainable Exchange (LSx) has been awarded a second grant of £6,130 to install solar panels on the Masbro Centre in Hammersmith & Fulham. The electricity savings and income from the FiT will help fund additional projects at the community centre. They hope to install around 68 solar panels, which would generate about 15,000 kWh per year.

Newbery House

Newbery House Cooperative has been awarded £9,740 to maximise benefits of solar panels which are about to be installed on this housing coop building in Islington. This project will look at the feasibility of supplementing the solar installation with electrical storage, on-site electric vehicle charging points, upgrading lighting to LED and guidance for residents on external wall insulation.

NKCE phase 2 – Westway

Building on the first phase of the North Kensington Community Energy (NKCE) project, which was funded through LCEF phase 1, Repowering has been awarded £7,370 to develop phase 2. Repowering will explore feasibility for solar on the Westway Leisure Centre in North Kensington. They anticipate being able to install as many as 800 solar panels (200kWp). Capital cost will be raised through a community share offer.

R-URBAN Poplar

Public Works has been awarded £8,686 towards the development of a small off-grid, hybrid renewable energy system. The system could combine micro anaerobic digestion (AD), solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and wind technology. The micro-AD plant will generate power from waste collected (by bicycle) from 35 local households.



St Luke’s Church of England

South East London Community Energy (SELCE) has been awarded £8,772 to investigate installing up to 140 solar panels on St Luke’s Church of England, Downham. The church is an important community space hosting pensioners groups, mothers’ mornings and dance groups. It has high electricity consumption and the church wants to reduce its carbon footprint. SELCE will aim to finance the project through a community share offer.

13 projects were initially awarded funding in the first phase of the London Community Energy Fund across eight boroughs. The 11 projects below progressed through early viability assessments and include developing solar projects on schools, community centres, churches, sports centres and other buildings used by local communities. The grant amount offered to these projects in total is around £130,000. Community energy groups are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for feasible projects by the end of 2018.

Calthorpe Energy Lab
The Calthorpe Project in Camden has been awarded £9,775 to undertake wider community engagement and develop a financially viable solar project on their community centre located in Kings Cross. Funding from the Mayor will enable the Calthorpe Project to complete a feasibility study and design for solar panel installation and also draft a share offer.

Caversham Group Practice
Power Up North London (PUNL) has been awarded £12,940 to develop a project to install about 29kWp of solar panels on the roof of the Caversham Group Practice (CGP), an established teaching and training practice in Camden with 15,000 registered patients. PUNL anticipates that the panels will save 20% - 25% on the practice’s electricity bills. The project will also look at the possibility of battery storage technology to enable use of extra energy captured during the day outside daytime hours.

Ealing Schools
Ealing Transition, in partnership with Schools Energy Coop, has been awarded £15,000 to look at the feasibility of installing solar panels on five schools in the Borough of Ealing, hoping to achieve up to 140kWp of solar capacity. One of the aim is not only to provide cheaper electricity for the schools but also inspire a generation by reaching to approximately 6,000 pupils and staff directly, as well as their extended families.

Energy Local Brixton
The charity 10:10 has been awarded £14,878 to fund technical and financial modelling of the impact of battery storage, and an assessment of capacity and feasibility for solar panels on 10 housing blocks in Lambeth. This project is predominantly looking to maximise the use of existing solar installations. It aims to demonstrate a model for matching the electricity generated by the solar installation with the electricity usage of participating residents, who would be able to receive a special tariff as a result.

Heathview Tenant’s Cooperative Solar Power Project
Heathview Tenant’s Cooperative has been awarded £12,670 to undertake feasibility assessments of the roofs of their housing buildings to establish if they could install up to 50kWp of solar panels. It is expected that the solar project will provide power for the communal areas in these social housing buildings. It is also expected that it will be able to provide power in the future for tenants that wish to sign up to the project.

Kentish Town City Farm
Power Up North London has been awarded £9,700 to establish if the roof of a stable block could support solar panels at the Kentish Town City Farm, a community charity that helps city people connect with animals, nature and the environment. This roof is not shaded and is highly visible from the courtyard making it a good location to promote renewable energy technologies to visitors of the farm. The grant will fund development work from the technical feasibility assessment of the roof for a solar panel installation of about 11kWp, to the production of a community share offer.

LUX
Power Up North London has been awarded £11,500 to undertake a feasibility study for the installation of about 34kWp of solar panels on LUX, an international arts agency based within Waterlow Park, Camden. This study will also investigate the possibility of installing battery storage that could enable charging electric vehicles overnight to help tackle pollution and clean up the air in the park. This project should result in financial savings for LUX that will be reinvested in community events and other energy efficiency initiatives.

New River Sports Centre
En10ergy has been awarded £4,500 to develop a business case to install about 50kWp of solar panels on the roof on the spectator stand of the New River Sports Centre in Haringey. The sports centre would use all of the electricity generated by the solar panels and the project would strive to offer cheaper electricity to the sports centre. The panels would be community-owned through a community share offer and help raise awareness of renewable energy with users of the sports centre.

RBKC Community Energy
Repowering London has been awarded £14,933 to develop community solar projects which would help the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea meet its target to reduce
carbon emissions by 40 per cent from its own operations by 2020. This project will look at the feasibility of installing solar panels on sites such as schools, community buildings, a hospital and a leisure centre in the north of the Borough where there are one of the highest levels of fuel poverty in London and the UK. Altogether it is anticipated that these sites could produce up to 500kWp of solar power.

SELCE Greenwich
South East London Community Energy has been awarded £14,999 to produce business cases for the installation of solar panels on two leisure centres in Greenwich, the Thamesmere and the Coldharbour leisure centres. Both provide a range of valuable services to the local community, including pools, football pitches and gyms. These services require a large electrical load and large buildings and this project will look at installing at total of 70kWp on these buildings. Any financial surplus from the operation of the solar panels would be channelled into fuel poverty alleviation work.

Walworth Methodist Church Solar Project
Sustainable Energy 24 (SE24) has been awarded £11,425 to develop a project looking at installing about 50kWp of solar panels on Walworth Methodist Church in Southwark, a large, multi-building facility at the heart of a very diverse, local community. The group anticipates that once delivered the solar installation would create income for the SE24’s community benefit fund over the lifetime of the project. This community benefit fund will be used to tackle fuel poverty and increase awareness of climate change in the local area.

Resources and support

Community energy groups starting new projects can receive support from Community Energy London. They can help with planning and advice as well as providing networking opportunities for groups to share their experiences. Groups should also visit the UK Power Networks website for helpful resources on community energy and how to connect to the grid.

Discover case studies of select projects that received LCEF funding from rounds one or two.


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