Utility OVO Energy has partnered with a community-owned wind project in Bristol to highlight the potential of community-driven renewable energy projects.
In a poll of OVO’s customers, it was revealed that seven in 10 people would support local wind or solar projects to help cut energy bills for their community.
The Ambition Community Energy (ACE) turbine, with which OVO has partnered, is one such project and is entirely owned by the Lawrence Weston community in Bristol. Energy generated by the turbine is sold to the national grid, creating around £100,000 a year in revenue for the local area.
OVO is now stepping in to manage the energy produced, and help residents who are OVO customers receive half-price electricity on windy days in return for the additional renewable energy supply going into the grid.
As of 2021, community-owned energy made up 331 MW of energy capacity in the UK; however, the ACE turbine took eight years to build due to issues with planning permissions and a lack of financial support for communities to generate their own power.
Obstructive planning laws resulted in zero applications made to develop onshore wind projects in England last year, compared to 46 in Scotland.
The money generated through the Bristol turbine will be reinvested into community projects, including a new renewable energy skills training centre and a crisis fund to help local families trapped in fuel poverty.
As a result of this partnership, from 1 April 2024, people living in Lawrence Weston will be alerted by text messages that a Windy Day is taking place and will be encouraged to use energy on this day.
They will then be rewarded with Community Power Credits to their account to deduct money from their bills. It is open to all OVO customers with a smart meter in the BS11 postcode area.
Susie Leppard, Head of Renewable Energy at OVO, said: “We are joining up with a community-owned energy project to help bring bills down. We believe initiatives like this are a vital way for people to access cheaper, greener energy on the grid.”
Mark Pepper, from Ambition Community Energy, added: “This partnership with OVO is a great step forward in enabling local OVO customers to benefit from lower energy costs. We hope it also shows the power that community projects like ours can have in contributing to a cleaner and greener energy ecosystem.”
