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In this newsletter

• Coronavirus/Covid19 Pandemic
• Refinancing the Mean Moor windfarm
• Project developments  
• Schools Energy Co-operative
• Energise South
• Energy4All Annual General Meeting
• Changes at Co-op Energy
• Electric MINI launches at Westmill

Coronavirus/Covid19 Pandemic

Like most other employers, Energy4All has been affected by the restrictions arising from the Corinavirus pandemic. The main office in Barrow in Furness is closed and we have put arrangements in place so that all office staff can work from home. This allows Energy4All to continue to do the work of supporting our cooperatives. We have increased our video-conferencing facilities and are offering these to individual cooperative boards to allow them to also continue their work.
 
The board and management team are also meeting more frequently via video conference to manage the situation and monitor developments. 
 
Project staff tend to work from home and so are continuing to work largely as normal, although meetings with contractors are now taking place over the telephone or via video call. The output from sites continues to be monitored by Energy4All staff who are liaising with contractors to ensure production continues.  
 
Contractors are affected by the restrictions as well, and this means that installations, site visits and some planned maintenance are affected. 
 
As a result of some effective lobbying by Community Energy England the Government has announced a six-month extension to allow already registered installations to qualify for FIT accreditation if installed by the end of September 2020.
 
The social distancing restrictions requirements mean that annual meetings cannot take place in the normal way. Energy4All is working with member cooperatives and liaising with regulators and Cooperatives UK. Some annual meetings are taking place using video-conferencing and we are exploring how to ensure that members who cannot access these systems can also participate.
 
As the main office is closed the best way of getting in contact with a member of staff is by email, either direct or via info@energy4all.co.uk We will post any updates on our website www.energy4all.co.uk

Refinancing the Mean Moor windfarm

Mean Moor is a 6.9MW wind farm located on the hill adjacent to High Winds' wind farm. In 2017 Energy Prospects, High Winds and Baywind bought the site from a private developer with financing from Thrive Renewables.  Together Energy Prospects and Energy4All have ensured the wind farm is operating efficiently. Surplus cash has been used to pay down the initial Thrive loan which now stands at ?3m.
 
High Winds aims to become the sole owner of Mean Moor and refinance existing loans to reduce the interest burden through a loan note and share offer.  If you are an existing Energy Prospects or High Winds loan note holder you have priority before the offer is opened to the general public.  But you will need to act promptly to make your choice between continuing to support this venture or redeeming for cash.

Project developments
 

The Highland Community Energy Society manages a portfolio of hydroelectric projects, a first share offer in 2018 raised just over ?900,000. The current priority is to bring two further already built hydro projects Achlain (100KW) and Littleton (160KW) into community ownership.

Edinburgh Solar has already invested ?1.4m in 24 PV installations across the city which generate 1.1GWh of clean electricity each year. Work is ongoing on a programme of further installations on public buildings; including the Craiglockart tennis and leisure centre and the Bankhead waste recycling centre. Installations are currently being financed by the society's own resources and a further share offer is planned for later in the year.

Reading Community Energy Society owns and operates 20 solar PV installations around Reading. In March 2020 the society installed a further two solar-roofs each of 50KW on University and Council buildings, a further pipeline of building installations is planned. Meanwhile the society has started working with neighbouring boroughs to find out ways they can work together to address the climate emergency. 

Schools Energy Co-operative

The successful Schools' Energy Cooperative has now put solar roofs on 79 schools with a combined capacity of 2.85MW. In January Energy4All raised a further ?690,000 for this Co-op in its 5th share offer, including an investment from the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury Cathedral to support an installation of solar panels on the roof of the cloisters of that Cathedral. 
 
This new injection of funds is sufficient for 21 sites, 17 of which have been installed so far. 
 
This share offer was the first done jointly with "Ethex", one of the UK's leading impact investment platforms. The aim of Ethex and Energy4All in working together is to increase the total numbers of people supporting and investing in community energy across the UK.

Energise South

Energise South is a community benefit society based in Hastings and created to develop solar energy to benefit the community of East Sussex and Kent, particularly in areas near the south coast.

Energise South has started installing solar panels on schools and local buildings financed by a community share offer. It includes an installation at St Leonard's Academy which at a massive 220KW will be one of the largest single arrays on a school in the country. 

One new aspect of Energise South is that they grew out of an already successful community benefit society, Energise Sussex Coast with which they continue to work in partnership. Energise South agreed to become part of the Energy4All family of independent cooperatives, gaining from the financial strength and skilled professional staff that comes from like-minded bodies working together. 

Energy4All Annual General Meeting

The Energy4All 2020 annual meeting was planned for Saturday 26^th September and includes a series of training sessions and guidance for new cooperative directors. The keynote speaker is to be Erik Christiansen the Chief Executive of Danish Energy company EBO.
 
In the light of the Coronavirus pandemic it is not clear if this event can take place as planned. A final decision will be made in the coming weeks in the light of Government guidance.

Changes at Co-op Energy

In August 2019  the Midcounties Cooperative announced a decision to form a partnership with Octopus Energy which would take responsibility for the operation for the 300,000 customers supplied by Co-op Energy.
 
Several of the Energy4All cooperatives had supply agreements with Co-op Energy who were also registered as a FIT supplier. Co-op Energy ceased being a FIT supplier at the end of March 2020 and the Energy4All has transferred all the Co-op Energy FIT contracts to the new partnership with Octopus Energy.

Electric MINI launches at Westmill