Knowledge : Finance
DONG Energy to launch new £ 10m East Coast Community Fund
£ 10 million fund is being launched by
A
DONG Energy to help local community projects on the UK ’ s East Coast over the next two decades .
The East Coast Community Fund is being set up to ensure that local people gain something tangible from the operation of two of the company ’ s offshore wind farms – Race Bank and Hornsea Project One – which are both now under construction . The fund will distribute around half a million pounds a year to support local initiatives for each of the next 20 years .
“ We believe local people should get a chance to benefit from the construction and operation of offshore wind farms , which are some of the UK ’ s biggest energy infrastructure projects ,” explained Brent Cheshire , UK Country Chairman of DONG Energy .
“ Although our wind farms are located offshore , their transmission connections require onshore facilities and our construction and operations bases are very much a part of local communities . This fund is a practical way in which we can say thank you for the fantastic support we get .”
The East Coast Community Fund will be managed and administered by an independent grant-making charity to be appointed shortly . One of its early tasks will be to launch a public consultation on how and where the funds can be distributed most effectively .
Race Bank is a 580MW project being constructed off the North Norfolk coast that will be capable of meeting the electricity needs of over half a million UK homes when it becomes fully operational in 2018 .
Construction of the onshore substations and installation of around12 kilometres of onshore cable , from Walpole to a point north of Sutton Bridge , has been ongoing since last year , and work will soon begin offshore . A vital part of the project will be the installation of two export cables in the area of the sea defence and the salt marsh . This is due to start in early May .
Hornsea Project One , a 1.2GW offshore windfarm to be built about 75 miles off the Yorkshire coast , will be able to generate enough electricity to supply over one million UK homes . It is due to be fully operational in 2020 .
‘ Crucial ’ finance package for energy projects around the UK
corporate finance company
A from Swindon has helped to fund an early stage , major renewable energy project and complement the team with several highly skilled individuals .
Watersheds secured the funding from active private investors for Suffolkbased Farm Renewables , which will see eight new sustainable energy projects over five sites in Yorkshire , Lincolnshire Leicestershire , Sussex and Kent .
The money will be used to help get the sites ‘ shovel ready ’, including obtaining planning permission and securing connections to the National Grid before Watersheds organises a second round of fundraising to allow construction .
The projects involve creating four sites of state-of-the-art photovoltaic solar panels , which generate from five to 10 megawatts . Additionally , five anaerobic digestion plants , the natural process of decomposition used to turn farm-grown energy crops or food processing waste and other waste organic material into biogas , will also eventually be built .
Watersheds Partner David Fletcher said : “ Attracting investment and talented individuals was quite a challenge because , whereas millions are raised during the construction of such sites , it is this early stage money that is the most difficult to raise . Pre-planning permission funding can be extremely difficult to obtain , so it was crucial to the success of this project .”
Malcolm McAllister , Chairman of Farm Renewables , headquartered in Lavenham , explained , “ Our goal is to develop , operate and invest in a variety of clean technologies , often in partnership with farmers and landowners , to make a significant contribution towards the UK ’ s renewable energy and carbon reduction targets .
“ As a leading provider of independent development and advice on renewable energy , this project is enabling us to take centre stage .“
Nigel Goodhew , Farm Renewables Managing Director , said : ” We required finance for the development stage to allow us to gain planning consent at numerous sites before the construction stage . We wanted the investment but we also wanted to ensure that we were able to gain maximum rewards from the capital gains on any exit . We turned to David and the team at Watersheds who looked after us and delivered a crucial result .”
18 | www . renewableenergyinstaller . co . uk