In association with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Community Energy, CEL hosted an event on Thursday 16th March in Parliament to launch their vision for the sector by 2030 with the aim of establishing 1000 community energy projects across the city by the end of this decade.
To help kick start this ambition CEL will:
- Launch a ‘Vision for Community Energy in London‘ which includes new analysis on the number of community buildings across the city which have the potential to host community energy projects
- Release an innovative new web tool – the Community Energy London Potential Map which will allow communities to explore the potential in their neighbourhoods
London community energy action is growing at pace, supported through the Mayor’s London Community Energy Fund (LCEF) and an increasing number of programmes and funds being introduced by individual London boroughs. The sector is also seeing an increase in the number of groups and people who want to get involved to create their own local community energy project to support action in tackling the climate and energy crises.
Using this various datasets CEL developed an innovative map that can support community energy groups identify potential projects in their areas, as well as providing policy makers a tool to visually explore the potential of community energy in London.
We identified buildings typically of interest to community energy groups to develop projects such as clubs & community centres, educational institutions, leisure centres, medical sites, museums, art galleries & libraries, Places of Worship and theatres, concert halls & cinemas.
In summary:
- We have identified 20,849 community buildings in London which may be of interest to community energy groups
- Up to 85% of these buildings have an EPC rating less than C. All of these building will need to be retrofitted if London is to achieve its Net Zero goal
- 11,508 of these community buildings could host solar PV projects – a capacity of 1,126MW. This level of generation is equivalent to powering about 350,000 homes (around one-tenth of London homes) and save over 200,000 tonnes of carbon annually.
On the basis of our findings Community Energy London is setting an ambition to have 1,000 community energy projects in place across the city by 2030 – an approximate six fold increase over the current level of projects.
This can also be viewed as 30 projects in each of London’s 33 boroughs by 2030.
So – how to we get to how to get to #1000ProjectsBy2030?
We set out six recommendations to how this ambition can be achieved in London.
- Increasing collaboration between community energy groups and local authorities
- Continued support from the London Community Energy Fund (LCEF)
- Recognition of the co-benefits of community energy
- Unlocking the potential of Londoners to invest in community energy
- Promoting community energy more widely
- A new national strategy for Community Energy
The full study and potential map can be accessed by clicking the below.
Thursday 16th March 2023
