Egni largest rooftop solar co-op in UK
ASWANSEA-BASED renewal energy venture has become the largest rooftop solar cooperative in the UK.
Swansea-based Egni Co-op has installed 4.3MWp (megawatt peak) of solar capacity, the most of any co-op in the UK, on 88 sites across Wales – these include schools, businesses and community buildings.
As a co-operative surplus goes into climate change education in schools. Its share offer is still open for investments from £50 and it has raised £4.38m to date of its £4.6m target.
Rosie Gillam, co-director of Egni, said: “We are extremely proud of this achievement. It shows that Wales is a co-operative country. Most of our capacity has been installed over the past year. We were only able to do this due to some brilliant partnerships with Welsh local authorities, especially Newport City Council, who led the way, and also Swansea and Pembrokeshire councils.
“We’ve also had a huge amount of support from other energy co-ops from across the UK, which would not happen in any other sector. We really hope that one of them overtakes us by this time next year. Groups such as Brighton Energy Co-op, Dorset Community Energy, Bristol Energy Co-op, Communities for Renewables, Big Solar Co-op, Solar for Schools and Schools Energy Co-op have been a brilliant source of advice and inspiration.
“Just one example was Low Carbon Hub, in Oxfordshire, who had an inquiry from the Pullmaflex factory in Ammanford – they passed it to us as we’re just down the road.
We’ve now installed 200kW of solar there, one of our biggest installs. Nearly all that power is used in the factory, supporting local jobs through cheaper energy and tackling climate change.”
Dan McCallum, co-director, highlighted the role that community energy co-ops such as Egni can achieve in tackling the climate crisis and the importance of partnerships.
He added: “Egni saved its sites £108,000 in electricity costs last year and prevented the emission of more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2. The Bevan Foundation and Unltd recently published an insightful report which highlighted the added value that social enterprises can bring to delivery with the public sector, retaining maximum value in Wales and achieving real scale.
“Our experience of working with Newport, Swansea and Pembrokeshire reinforces this. We are very keen to work with other local authorities and public bodies to help achieve their 2030 carbon targets in line with the Future Generations Act.”
Jim Cardy, from the Welsh Government Energy Service, said: “This is great news of Wales taking the lead, particularly during the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference, which the UK is hosting in November in Glasgow. Welsh Government Energy Service has supported Egni with grants and advice in the last year.”