Cornbury Park Solar Farm

Fri 11 Mar 2011, 16:07

Members of the community who have taken an interest in the proposed Cornbury Solar Farm to date were stunned that the WODC planning officers recommended refusal and that it seems that many councillors are minded to agree with that recommendation. There have been no public or parish council objections to the site as far as we are aware and a general welcome to see something practical and visible being done to try and mitigate climate change and our reliance on imported energy. Given that there is now agreement that the community can buy into the scheme to 25%, SusCha has agreed to put its efforts 100% behind the scheme and will welcome any assistance in doing so.

Sun 27 Feb 2011, 14:14

Hi! I think if we take the experience of Energy4All and define 'the community' as within some miles of Charlbury, the amount of money that can be raised could be a lot. For Westmill Wind Farm they raised several million (£2.5? or £4.0) in a matter of weeks. It means issuing a prospectus, which again, costs money, but the speed of contributions from interested people thereafter is incredibly encouraging. The maxmimum that any one individual can put in is £20k, and we could set the minimum at something much lower...

Sat 26 Feb 2011, 12:01

Liz R., I do think smaller schemes would be better if that means more community ownership. But this topic isn't producing a lively debate, so suspect you are right about the difficulty of attracting community funding for solar energy.

On the other hand, there was really very little notice of the consultation about the Cornbury Park Solar Scheme. Very few people knew in time that the exhibition in the Memorial Hall was on! It would be interesting to know if better publicity & a longer lead-in time would succeed in raising more local funds.

I do think a lot of people support solar energy & would like to do something on an individual basis, whilst not being able to have solar panels on their own roofs. And wouldn't it be great (say) if the Corner House's Fuel Bills could be reduced via the use of Solar Energy. I think a lot of people might put money in to support that -- especially if it might help save the library & other town facilities.

Fri 25 Feb 2011, 09:06

But I'm happy to take others' views on level of community ownership - the Cornbury scheme is costing £12m - that's probably rather larger than the community could raise in a short time.

Does the level of investment required mean that communities would build smaller schemes in general? Would this matter? More smaller schemes preferable to a fewer number of very large ones?

Thu 24 Feb 2011, 11:30

Hi Christine, I haven't missed your point. In general I think that it would be best if schemes did have a high level of community ownership, if not 100%. For such schemes to get going, they need an initiative to be taken by the community, and for the community to bear the risk of developing to the stage where a scheme can obtain funding. Finding people with the time and energy to undertake the scheme development is a challenge, and the funding gap at the early stages is hard to fill. That's why Energy4All has set up a company to raise money to provide just that kind of assistance.
However, in the case where Cornbury had developed to such a late stage, and the developer has already filled that funding gap, it would seem unreasonable to suggest that they allow the community to buy in to a very high level.
As to who invests and how the community benefits... Yes, individuals are asked to make investments and are offered a return. This can be done via an Industrial Provident Society that can then divert some of the return into a community fund for other energy generation or efficiency projects.

Thu 17 Feb 2011, 17:59

Liz L: I think you've missed my point. The alternative is not to do nothing, but to make sure the government subsidies & generous tax benefits for solar energy go to individuals (& not primarily to rich landowners or companies).

According to Liz R, SusCha is lobbying that large schemes with a minimum level of community involvement should be allowed to proceed. I would have thought the demand should be that such schemes should go forward only if a MAJOR level of community support is involved.

25% Community Support doesn't seem to me to be particularly significant -- particularly if all 'Community' means is some relatively wealthy individuals in the local area buying some shares in the companies concerned.

Perhaps SusCha has something different in mind than individual share ownership; but, if so, it would be good to know quite what is involved that means the the COMMUNITY of Charlbury will benefit from this scheme.

Wed 16 Feb 2011, 18:38

If we are going to switch from burning fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, that is going to have to be paid for. It will either be energy companies that make that investment, in which case the cost will be added to electricity bills, or it will be private investors, in which case ditto, because they will expect a return on that investment, or government, in which case tax payers will foot the bill. The alternatve is to do nothing. So if there is a chance for people in Charlbury to support a large scale instalment that could produce a significant amount of renewable energy, I'm in favour, even if the main investor does benefit from a subsidy, as it will make a difference to all of us in the long run.

Wed 16 Feb 2011, 13:28

I'm still no clearer about the desirability of the Cornbury Park scheme. Liz compares it to community involvement with the wind turbines at Westmill near Swindon. But Westmill is 100% community owned, the Cornbury Park one is projected to be 25%.

Also being Community Owned can mean a range of different things. If it's simply that various relatively wealthy individuals in the local community can buy shares in Alectron Investments & then benefit from the Government subsidy, is this really a good use of extremely scarce government funding in these times of cutbacks?

Others have calculated that if 1 million households (about 4% of the UK) install PV panels producing an average of 1800 kWh a year, the annual subsidy will be approximately £700m, all of which is paid for by other electricity users. If all this cost is eventually paid for by householders, the cost will be about £35-£30 a year, or perhaps 5% of current bills. Although only about 1/3rd of UK electricity demand comes from homes, householders will eventually pay the whole subsidy cost because of higher prices for goods and services because of the increased price of electricity.

It's currently poorer householders who pay more for their electrity --not only because of the higher price of the the first tranche of units used, but also because those in council housing are obliged to use slot meters, and that's also true of many other types of social housing. Those without bank accounts and direct debit facilities also pay more per unit.

Given all this, I think the grounds for subsidising companies and rich landowners to install massive solar schemes through tax subsidies needs more justification! Yes, community involvement is a good thing; but that depends on whether it's really local communities that are benefitting, or simply certain wealthy individuals in those communities.

Wed 16 Feb 2011, 09:39

Thanks Neill. I am investigating.

I'm interested in what Malcolm had to say about the Unisolar lightweight rolls. Does anyone have experience of these panels and their use with a feed-in tariff?

One website prefers the Kyocera brand. This is a minefield, but no one seems to be sharing experience, and most of the informtion comes from people who want to sell me something!

Tue 15 Feb 2011, 21:21

For general PV info go to www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Solar-electricity . Or www.which.co.uk, which has some very useful pointers.

Tue 15 Feb 2011, 10:36

I take the point about economies of scale. Can I please buy one or two run-on panels for my roof and enjoy the cost benefit?

Also, where can I find information about PV for domestic roofs? This doesn't seem to have been very well advertised, or am I looking in the wrong places? Can't see anything on the WODC website, though I got my roof and cavity walls insulated very cheaply on a scheme they were sponsoring. Or on the Sustainable Charlbury website either.

Sun 13 Feb 2011, 11:15

Sustainable Charlbury has been in discussions with the Rotherwicks and Alectron Investments about the community being allowed to take a 25% share in the proposed solar farm to be owned through a coop like the wind turbines at Westmill near Swindon.
Investment in PV for people's roofs is expensive and not all roofs are suitable for it. Being able to participate in a major scheme like the one proposed at Cornbury would allow individual householders to benefit from the subsidy and get a return for their investment, and their money would buy more PV than investing on panels for their own roof - economies of scale when purchasing 27,000 panels, as opposed to 8 for one's own roof are clearly substantial. So Sustainable Charlbury welcomes these larger developments as more cost-effective and to be supported if there is significant community ownership. SusCha was expecting a proposal from the Alectron board when the news story broke. We are lobbying to say that large schemes with a minimum level of community involvement should be allowed to proceed. Others' views welcome.

Tue 8 Feb 2011, 10:46

Well, it looks as if none of the local solar farm projects might go ahead. See: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/07/solar-energy-feed-in-tariff

I picked up of the politics of this a few days after the very interesting exhibition in the Memorial Hall. At the time I said I had no objections to the scheme, & thought it seemed an excellent idea. But a Radio 4 discussion on You & Yours (only an edited version available online) made me rethink my response.

It would have been nice to have had more notice of the meeting in the Memorial Hall so as to be able to investigate the issues in more detail. After all, taxpayers end up paying a subsidy for these feed-in tariffs, & this increases over a number of years; so if this subsidy is being exploited by commercial companies we do need to think through how desirable this is.

Liz Reason said at the Town Council that she was interested in pusuing a coop-type option for Charlbury in relation to the Cornbury Solar Farm scheme. I hope we get rather more notice & details on that! I'm not hostile to the idea of a Solar Farm; but now I just don't know what I think!

Sun 6 Feb 2011, 22:30

Interesting report here:

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/06/solar-farms-threaten-green-subsidy

It looks as if what was intended to appeal to homeowners and community groups (e.g. fundraising potential for big roof owners like the school or the Memorial Hall) has been exploited for rather larger scale development like the one proposed at Cornbury. Is Sustainable Charlbury making representations to the government for the continuation of the scheme? And is it trying to persuade owners of buildings like the above to go photovoltaic?

Fri 21 Jan 2011, 20:20

What would be nice would be local investment participation in the project by local people. Liz Reason has taken upon herself to have already held a meeting with Lord R, according the the representative at the consultation, on just this issue. The lesson from Denmark is very clear where it…

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Fri 21 Jan 2011, 20:00

A quick look on the contour lines for sightlines and I suspect it won't be visible except for a couple of odd dips in the landscape. I can find nothing to object too and neither will the sheep who will graze the field. Apparently they are going to have to surround the development with stock wire of some height as deer will damage the panels by jumping on them and also rubbing them with antler velvet etc. so it is only the sheep and rabbits who will be allowed in.

The representative explicitly stated that routine physical maintenance and cleaning of the panel surfaces will be sourced through local labour contracts and we need to hold them to that promise!

I hope the rabbits don't do to one of the support legs what jackrabbits did to someone's solar array in the USA - tunnel out under the concrete plinth of one of the support struts with the result that that leg sank into the ground and the quite large panel was cracked across the middle!

Fri 21 Jan 2011, 18:44

Agree with Jon. It is only a small display, but certainly worth seeing and should allay everyone's fears. It certainly isn't a wind farm or anything like that. Once in place in the field, I would be surprised if anyone would actually see it was there!
It would be capable of producing enough energy for 1000 homes apparantly.

Fri 21 Jan 2011, 18:05

Just dropped in and had a look. It looks a great idea and a sensible location here. Still time to get to the Memorial Hall before 7 and have a look at the display.

Thu 20 Jan 2011, 09:17

As each site is bespoke to the field and surrounding landscape Alectron do not have a website with information on the project. Please come to the exhibition to find out more about the scheme.

All the surrounding parishes that the district council advised should be contacted have had details of the exhibition sent to the parish clerk with a request for them to put up the notice and tell anyone they think ought to know, inclduding the parish council members.

Wed 19 Jan 2011, 21:37

See www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/8797338.Solar_farm_plans_on_display/ for a piece that came out on Tuesday in the Witney Gazette regarding the solar farm plans.

Tue 18 Jan 2011, 13:11

Thanks Cally,

I've seen no first hand posting online but the most information online I've seen so far is the similar information sent to Sustainable Charlbury from the developer posted on Saturday.
See: thurly.net/0o23

Tim

Mon 17 Jan 2011, 23:01

It would be fab to have a web address where we could read more about this Andrew???

Thanks, Cally

Mon 17 Jan 2011, 12:41

Posters advertising the public exhibiton are going up this morning in town.

Mon 17 Jan 2011, 10:05

I confirm that this is in the Memorial Hall.

Sat 15 Jan 2011, 12:05

Is there going to be a proper poster/announcement of this?

Sat 15 Jan 2011, 10:23

The booking has been made for the Memorial Hall.

Fri 14 Jan 2011, 21:34

Thank you for this posting.

Just for clarity, and not to cause local consternation, I assume you have booked either the Corner House or the Memorial Hall.

Could you clarify this.

You can also post in the events section for more profile

Fri 14 Jan 2011, 20:16

Alectron Investments are considering applying for planning permission for the installation of ground mounted solar panels on an area of arable land located within a field surrounded by woodland inside Cornbury Park.

A pre-application consultation exhibition will be held between 3 and 7pm on 21st January at Charlbury Town Hall. Members of the project team and from Alectron will be available to answer any questions or explain the scheme.

All members of the community are welcome to come along to see the exhibition and ask questions.