Our response to the proposed removal of pre-accreditation under the Feed-In Tariff
The government released a consultation on the proposed removal of pre-accreditation and pre-registration on the Feed-in Tariff (FiT). Schemes can pre-accredit or pre-register in order to freeze the FiT rate while developing the project. This protects the scheme from the quarterly Feed-in tariff rate reviews, which could see rates decrease if there has been […]
Paces First Year Beats Prediction
Our first solar PV scheme at Paces, High Green Development Trust, has just completed its first year of generating clean, renewable electricity. It generated 41,870 kWh – the predicted amount was 37,500 kWh. This represents a carbon saving for the year of 18,423 kg.
Annual General Meeting
We had a successful AGM on March 19th. The draft minutes can now be seen here: AGM minutes 2015 draft and the Accounts for the end of year to September 2014 can be seen here: Sheffield Renewables X14-final.
Dearne Valley Peer Mentoring Evaluation
The cabinet office funded Peer Mentoring scheme with Dearne Valley Eco Vision has now ended. The final evaluation report can be found here: Dearne Valley Peer Mentoring Evaluation Yr1 FINAL
Next Volunteer Social
Our next social for volunteers will be held on Wednesday 3rd June, 7pm at the University Arms, Brook Hill. If you are new to volunteering, feel free to email us if you wish to let us know you are coming. If you need more information, please email volunteers@sheffieldrenewables.org.uk
Solar So Good for Sheffield City Region
Sheffield Renewables is gaining momentum. The hard work of our dedicated alliance of academics, industry experts and skilled volunteers is beginning to pay off, with clean electricity now being generated in the local community. Our latest installation funded through community shares is a 50kW solar photovoltaic array, providing in-situ solar power to a primary school […]
Help to shape the future of Sheffield Renewables
The last 18 months have been a very busy time for us, working on a new focus for Sheffield Renewables following our decision that Jordans Dam hydro was no longer viable. It has been a lot of hard work but we are now generating electricity at Paces Campus in High Green and are hoping to […]
Blackburn Meadows Update
The EON biomass plant at Blackburn Meadows, has produced its first power, turning waste wood into electricity. It sychronised with the local distribution network for the first time last Tuesday, June 24th. It was built at a cost of £120 million and should provide enough energy to power around 40,000 homes, reducing carbon […]
Annual General Meeting
We had a good AGM on Tuesday, March 26th, just a year since our Special General Meeting in 2013. 42 members were present. Richard Collins, our chair, brought everyone up to date with what has been happening since the SGM, especially the installation of our first solar PV scheme at Paces. His full report can […]
2014 AGM Minutes (draft)
Annual General Meeting26th March, 2014M I N U T E SPresent: 42 members (see Attendance List)Apologies: were received from Maureen Whitebrook, Pru Philip, John Chapman, Gary Hunt, Claire Gregory, Steve Hughes, Chris Wade, Fran Belbin, Luke Wilson, Michael Miller, Dave Woodall, Paul Nichols, Sue Morton, Graham Woods, Saleema Imam, Kate Reece.David Berry chaired the meeting […]
Sheffield Renewables and Dearne Valley Eco Vision join forces
Sheffield Renewables has been successful in securing £13,925 from the Community Energy Peer Mentoring Fund to assist the Dearne Valley Eco Vision to develop community renewable energy projects. This support includes: Helping to establish a community organisation within the Dearne Valley Running a Share Offer or help with raising alternative finance Business planning, including renewable […]
Community solar project, installation has begun!
After a year developing a community solar project Sheffield Renewables is very pleased to announce that work commenced last week installing 50kW of solar panels at High Green Development Trust’s (HGDT) Paces Campus Community Centre. The scheme’s 50 kW array will cover an area larger than a tennis court and have a lifespan of up […]
Renewable Energy and the Planning System
What can you do? If you are reading this then there is a good chance that you already hold the view that renewable energies are a positive way of producing energy in the U.K. This piece isn’t trying to convince you of the benefits of renewable energy but instead will provide a brief overview of […]
Community building solar roof opportunities
Do you own or rent a building used for the community and would like lower electricity bills? Sheffield Renewables Ltd is looking to install medium scale solar PV on buildings in Sheffield, financed by community shares. Ideally buildings should be owned by a charity, social enterprise or organisation that is working to: Benefit the people […]
Sheffield Renewables moves into community solar PV
As mentioned in our previous blogs, Sheffield Renewables are moving into the exciting world of community-owned solar PV. Although you may think that Sheffield is too grey for solar panels, having less irradiance (the amount of useful sunlight that we receive) than other European countries is in fact beneficial for solar because: The panels work more […]
An update on the Jordan Dam Hydro scheme
Jordan Dam The Jordan Dam Hydro project has met two significant obstacles. The tender prices we received for the project were higher than we could afford. Based on a feasibility study and pre-tender information along with the experience of our volunteers, we estimated a tender price of £650-£750k. The Board was confident that the Business […]
An update from our Special General Meeting
Following the AGM in January, it was agreed that Sheffield Renewables would hold an SGM on the 26th March to update members on progress with work on the tender proposals for Jordan Dam. Once again it was a snowy evening but 54 members still managed to attend and a further 54 members gave votes via […]
Update from our AGM
Sheffield Renewables’ 2013 AGM took place on Tuesday 22 January at 7pm. It was preceded by an interesting talk by Graham Woods, one of the volunteers on our hydro technical team, about the evolution of low head hydro power. 50 members attended despite the snow with 25 apologies received and 10 members requesting papers for […]
Offshore wind – An unexpected benefit to fish stocks?
European fish stocks are under increasing pressure. The European Commission accepts that all important fish stocks in European waters can be described as overfished and a World Bank report claims that the worldwide cost of overfishing alone is a huge $50 Billion. The Common Fisheries Policy is our way of controlling overfishing by setting quotas […]
Share offer results
Everyone at Sheffield Renewables would like to say a big thank you to all of our investors and supporters and we are pleased to announce that we have managed to raise a huge £210,410 (and counting). This is a fantastic commitment from people willing to invest in Sheffield’s green future. We have a few major milestones […]