Tamar Energy Community is a not for profit, community owned social enterprise run by our members.

We localise energy.

We’re all spending a lot of money on heating and powering our homes (around £16m per year, or £44,000 a day across the Tavistock area). With much of this spend going to the big power companies the majority of the benefit leaves our local economy like a leaking bucket.

We provide independent energy advice and support, develop community owned renewable energy projects, and are working to understand how local people can gain greater benefit from the changing energy market.

Addressing the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and how we can Build Back Better is at the core of our work.

We welcome your support in helping us achieve this together.

Tamar Energy Community is a community energy cooperative for Tavistock, Callington and the Tamar valley. 

http://tamarenergycommunity.com/ 

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamarEnergyCommunity (188)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamarEnergyComm (321)

 

 

Mount Kelly Renewable Heat Project

Mount Kelly School and Tamar Energy Community are excited to be working on an ambitious renewable heat project to assess the potential for a carbon neutral district heating system for the School’s 60 plus buildings across their 100 acre site.

This project is providing a fantastic opportunity for pupils, and the local community, to learn about harnessing fossil free energy and the complexities involved in undertaking a feasibility study of this nature. It is part of the School’s vision to reduce its carbon footprint.

Heating buildings accounts for 17%* of the UK’s carbon footprint – more than construction or air travel – with most heated by gas, a fossil fuel. Buildings here in the UK are less thermally efficient than in much of Europe. This project aims to make a difference locally and show the role renewable heat can play in keeping us warm without adding to climate change.

To try and make a difference locally, Tamar Energy Community and Mount Kelly along with Carbon Alternatives and Wattcraft (technical consultants) have formed a project team and are conducting a feasibility study to assess how a carbon neutral district heating system can be achieved on the Mount Kelly site. At this early stage various options and technologies are being evaluated and the benefits to the local environment and economy will all be considered in developing the plan.

Both Mount Kelly, one of Tavistock’s biggest employers, and Tamar Energy Community, are optimistic that the results of the study will be used as an exemplar to show how district renewable heating projects can be achieved in other settings in Devon and beyond. Both parties are committed to engaging with the wider community to gauge your reactions, ideas, and encourage your support.

https://tamarenergycommunity.com/mount-kelly-renewable-heat-project/ 

 

Why is Community Solar Important

The installations are owned by our community, and are managed and maintained by Tamar Energy Community (TEC).

Community solar brings many benefits to our community and local economy:

  • Our host sites benefit from reduced cost electricity. As community generators a proportion of their energy needs are generated locally from renewable sources which is good for our planet, and they can promote the benefits of renewables to their stakeholders. We can also work with them to reduce their energy usage in other ways as well.
  • Our local community has the opportunity to invest in, and co-own the installation by purchasing community shares, and receive a fair rate of return.
  • The money which would otherwise have been paid by host sites (for their solar energy) to national and international energy companies is paid to TEC, a community benefit society, and retained in the local economy.
  • Any surplus from our community solar goes into our Community Energy Fund and is used to alleviate fuel poverty across the area.

Kate Royston, TEC’s Community Solar project developer: “We’re immensely proud that we’ve been able to get our first community generation projects off the ground and into the grid! It’s been hard work but very worthwhile and we look forward to developing more power and heat projects in the future”.

Working with local organisations we’ve installed 325kW of community owned solar PV across six sites.

  • Abbey Garden Machinery, Tavistock
  • Mount Kelly Senior, Tavistock
  • Mount Kelly Prep, Tavistock
  • Carbeile Junior School, Torpoint
  • Plymstock School, Plymstock
  • Tesco Stores, Callington

https://tamarenergycommunity.com/projects/community-solar/ 

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