Brighton Energy Co-op Continues To Grow
In this issue…
- New Solar Sites Ahoy!
- Autumn Generation plus O&M News
- Our Community Film Screening with Caroline Lucas
- BEC’s Free Renewable Energy Education Programme Goes Off-Grid
- “Reuseacell” EV Battery Project Prototype Nears Completion
- Climate:Change Round Table
- Introducing ‘Solarcoaster’ – BEC’s Legacy Project
- Rewilding BEC Members at Waterhall
- AGM 2025 Report
New Solar Sites Ahoy!
In January, BEC will be installing two new community energy solar projects: a 75 kW system on The Cheese Man and a 170 kW system on Brighton & Newhaven Fish Sales. Both these local businesses are tenants at Shoreham Port.
These installations will improve the EPC ratings of the commercial units, and provide electricity that’s cheaper than the grid. Our cleaner, greener solar energy will help protect them from future price rises and enhance their sustainability credentials by reducing their carbon footprints.
We also have an additional 400kW new solar site at a local business that is close to signing off; we’ll keep you posted on that.
Image: BEC’s O&M Manager David Owers on top of Shed 3A at Shoreham Port
BEC Autumn Generation plus O&M Update
The days are shorter now, but from August to October we produced 1,130MWh, a record high despite October being slightly below last year. There are a few reasons for this: a major refurbishment of our 200kW system on Shed 3A at Shoreham Port and the 100kW system at MET College’s Pelham Street building being out of action due to building renovations. The University of Brighton has also demolished its Robert Dodd building in Eastbourne so our array there (30kW) has been removed (they have repaid BEC a sum equivalent to its value). Total generation in 2025 will top 4.3 Gigawatt hours (GWh).
Image: BEC’s Will Cottrell with Caroline, Howard & Dan – Duke of York’s Power Station screening
BEC Community Film Screening with Caroline Lucas
We cried! We laughed! We were so pleased to see Caroline Lucas! What an inspiring and heart warming event. Last month we hosted a screening of Power Station at the Duke of York cinema, which follows artist/activists Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell as they turn their street in Waltham Forest into a solar power station. This award-winning film is a fitting end to their years of fact finding, fund-raising – mostly in a double bed on their roof – putting free solar on their local school, attempting a Christmas No. 1 with the pupils, and installing solar panels on their neighbours’ houses. Caroline Lucas expertly hosted the Q&A panel with them afterwards, alongside BEC, BHESCo & Howard Johns, who spoke of his new project, POP – People Owned Power. We are proud to say that BEC Co–founder, Will Cottrell, mentored Dan & Hilary with free monthly Q&A zoom sessions while they brewed their Power Station master plan.
Image: Pupils at Scoraig School in Scotland participating in BEC workshop
Our Free Energy Education Programme Goes Off Grid
Scoraig is an off-grid island community in Scotland accessible only on foot or by boat. Since BEC’s Matthew Holmes has recently moved to near the island, he decided to offer BEC’s Renewable Energy & Carbon Footprint Workshop to the local school.
After a 52 km drive, a 10-minute crossing in a small boat, and then a 20-minute walk, Matthew taught the eight pupils at the primary school—covering all year groups. They tackled each of the “Which is more sustainable?” challenges set by Mathew and had a brilliant time racing solar cars they built. The school itself runs on a hybrid system of wind turbines, solar panels and batteries.
Since our visit to Scoraig, we’ve delivered 12 more free workshops at local schools in the Brighton area – including Hove Park Upper, Saltdean Primary and Dorothy Stringer High School—reaching 355 children, with 11 more workshops already booked for next year. Special thanks to Rob Sandercock at Dorothy Stringer for coming in on his day off so his Eco Team could take part. And congratulations to Coldean Primary, who continue to lead the local Energy Sparks scoreboard!
‘Reuseacell’ EV Battery Prototype Nears Completion
As mentioned in our last newsletter, we have formed a partnership with Burgess Hill startup Reusacell, which gives a second life to EV batteries. Reusacell are currently building the 100kW battery system and are making good progress. We hope to begin installation early next year.
Image: Simon Maxwell, Co-Chair, Climate:Change addressing BEC Hosted Round Table
Climate:Change Round Table
Overcoming Barriers to Community Energy in Brighton & Hove
In September Brighton Energy Co-op and local think-tank Climate:Change brought together representatives from the public and private sectors, to examine constraints and identify solutions. It was designed for, among others, Property Owners, Agents & Landlords looking to improve EPC Ratings and ESG standards. BEC was recognised for already having an enviable record, installing renewable energy in public and private buildings across the City and that our future role is recognised in the Council’s Decarbonisation Pathways Study. John Taylor, Head of Capacity Building at Community Energy England spoke alongside Kayla Ente MBE, Chief Executive, Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-operative and BEC’s Communications & Community Fund Manager, Atlanta Cook.
“This is a springboard for action to enable community energy to play its part in reducing emissions, improving energy security and tackling energy poverty in the City.”
Chair: Simon Maxwell, Co-Chair, Climate:Change
BEC’s Solarcoaster – the History of Brighton Energy Co-op book
BEC Legacy Project
In memory of BEC member Stephen Biggs who died early this year, we have written a 15-year history of Brighton Energy Co-op. Stephen – a professor of bottom-up economics at Berkley – was always keen for us to write this, and it tells the story of how BEC began, the journey we have taken, and our contribution to the UK’s community energy movement. If you would like us to send you a free PDF version of the book please email atlanta@brightonenergy.org.uk
Rewilding BEC Members at Waterhall
In August we celebrated our 15th Birthday with our Members and Bond Holders at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership’s Wilding Waterhall Clubhouse. A big thank you to the Real Junk Food Project for the delicious buffet lunch, to Wilding Waterhall Ranger, Paul Gorringe, for a fascinating Rewilding talk, and to the local musicians who filled the day with lovely live folk music.
Together, we’ve raised over £5 million to install 4,843.76 kWp of rooftop solar, generating 21,936,245 kWh of clean, green electricity and saving 4,542,338.2 kg of CO₂ emissions. That’s what we call local action on climate change!
BEC AGM 2025
Another Year of BEC Community Energy Projects
On 25th Sept we met at the Brighthelm Centre to report on the last 12 months array performance, our financial accounts and the rest of our activities. Thanks to the BEC Team members who presented, including Matt, David, Atlanta and Svenja. We are grateful to all our Members & Bond Holders for making the effort to join us there, and their penetrating questions.
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In other news… Have your say on Local Supply RightsPower For People have organised a Parliamentary motion that calls on the Government to promptly implement local supply rights for community energy, given that the Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, committed to this when speaking in the House of Commons back on 15th July. Over 50 MPs have already signed it – which is an excellent start. Please ask your MP to sign it. The more names on board, the better. Simply email your MP asking them to, ‘Please sign EDM 2151 that calls on the Government to enable community energy to be bought locally.’ https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/64572 Threat to Feed-In TariffIf you’re one of the 800,000+ households in England, Wales or Scotland being paid to generate your own electricity via renewable technology under the Feed-In Tariff scheme, you could earn less in the long run under new Government plans. It’s something MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has warned feels a “breach of promise” that could dissuade people from signing up to future schemes. You can complete this consultation to express your viewpoint here. Brand B Radio LaunchBrighton-based Brand B Radio — a new environmental radio station with big plans to cover the global range of green initiatives happening out there has launched its crowd-funder. There’s so much good environmental work going on — community energy being just one example — that rarely gets the airtime it deserves. Founder Dave Allen has pulled together some fantastic content that’ll be rolling out over the next few weeks. Find out more here and support the crowd-funder here. Welcome Kelvin Koroma!
Kelvin joins us from Brighton University where he is an engineering student deeply interested in sustainable technology. His research project placement with BEC is taking a deep dive into batteries available on the market with a special focus on how to support BEC’s partnership with ‘Reusacell’. Kelvin will also shadow our New Project Developer, Matt Brown, to get a taste of technical sales and O&M. Thank You!We’ve had a lot to celebrate in our 15th year, but most important will always be our Board Members, Members, Bond Holders, Partner Sites, Volunteers and Supporters. Thank you all so much for your continued support and hard work – we are stronger than ever! Warmest regards,
If you’d like to know more about joining Brighton Energy Co-op you can find the Why Get Involved In Community Energy page here. You can sign up for our newsletter here. Feel free to share our newsletter with your friends & colleagues!
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