Decentralised Energy Systems Part Two
23rd January 2020
Thursday 23rd January saw The Future Economy Network run their final event in their Decentralised Energy series, hosted by Bevan Brittan at the Bristol Marriot Hotel with a delicious array of savoury and sweet food & refreshments. The evening was well attended by a diverse range of businesses all looking to discuss various forms of energy. The seminar was kindly sponsored by network members Kensa Contracting, who offer a unique solution for the delivery of larger scale ground source heat pump projects.
Katherine Piper, Director of The Future Economy Network welcomed attendees, highlighting the benefits of joining the Network and also sharing exciting updates about The Future Economy Network’s Carbon Neutral Hub in Bristol, Future Leap. Katherine also briefly ran through the plans for The Festival of Sustainable Business, where you can check out the video here.
Colin Nolden from Riding Sunbeams was first up, discussing the possibilities associated with connecting solar PV to electrified railway lines. The Riding Sunbeams project originally started in 2017 when a feasibility study proved the concept. Then in 2019, Riding Sunbeams received funding from Innovate UK to investigate technology readiness. The consortium team determined the viability of all 6 potential solar traction farms, which had a combined capacity of 27.15MWp (the equivalent to increasing the UK’s community energy capacity by 20%). The 2019 ‘Before Dawn’ progress report, funded by the Rural Community Energy Funds can be seen here.
We then welcomed David Broom from Kensa Contracting, sponsors of the event. He gave a brief overview of Kensa Contracting’s history before discussing the drawbacks of traditional district heating. These can include issues with heat loss, overheating, metering, split billing, having a single energy provider and therefore no choice, and having large and unsightly plants. The alternative, David suggests, is ground loop arrays. These eliminate the issues above, the network is running on the cold side and therefore there are no losses, there is one pump per dwelling, no need for heat meters and there are also technical and financial benefits around not having to drill so many holes. David continued by emphasising the importance of making heat pumps mainstream; making them mimic the traditional gas network as much as possible. He ran the group through borehole installations, and that the ground is not the only source of heat – surface water & mine water can be used too. He showed a video to show that the scale can be stepped up, and the “waste” heat can be used to cool buildings too. Finally, he gave Ashton Rise as a successful example of a low carbon new build project.
Finally, we herard from Damon from CEPRO (Clean Energy Prospectors). CEPRO plan, construct and operate fully managed community microgrids that support maximised installations of onsite renewables in both the new build and retrofit housing market. Damon discussed community microgrids with reference to the macro trends nationally around the requirement to decarbonise and electrify heat and transportation. He discussed the challenge associated with electrifying our heating, where this could bring about a requirement 6 times the carrying capacity of our current national grid infrastructure. It is therefore vital to look at decentralisation and the opportunities associated with small scale grids, moving from top down to bottom up. Although there will be an initial cost associated with the more expensive equipment, over time the microgrid will be earning a revenue for the community. Damon gave case studies where residents are enjoying a reduction in their energy bills alongside the associated carbon reductions. He discussed a feasibility study with Hazelmead Community Energy in Bridport where homes are being linked to battery storage, doubling their potential revenue.
The seminar finished with some insightful questions to the panel and 60 second pitches. The event concluded with some valuable networking and finishing up the delicious selection of food & refreshments. A huge thank you to Bevan Brittan for hosting the event, and to Kensa Contracting for sponsoring the event. Without this support we would not be able to do these wonderful inspiring events.