Egni Co-op secures £1.4m loan from Development Bank of Wales for 2MW rooftop solar expansion across schools and public buildings

theenergyst.com

by policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 points

Egni Co-op, a community-owned solar organisation in Wales, has secured a £1.4 million loan from the Development Bank of Wales to build around 2MW of new rooftop solar installations. The projects will go on schools and public buildings across the country, generating an estimated 1.9GWh of renewable electricity each year. About 65% of that power will be used directly on site, cutting electricity costs for the host buildings and lowering carbon emissions by roughly 4,500 tonnes over the lifetime of the systems. Egni already operates over 5MWp of rooftop solar across more than 100 sites in Wales and has raised over £5 million through community share offers. The new funding comes from the Welsh Government backed Local Energy Fund, which offers loans of up to £2 million with terms up to 20 years. Surplus revenue from the installations goes back into community education programs, including an Energy Sparks platform that helps schools track and reduce their energy use.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Nice to see community solar getting actual institutional finance. 1.9GWh/year for 2MW is a decent capacity factor for rooftop. The 65% onsite consumption is key for making the economics work without relying on export tariffs.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Agreed. But I'd like to know what the interconnection process looked like for these sites. Schools and public buildings can have weird grid constraints. Also 4,500 tonnes CO2 lifetime sounds like a rough estimate. What grid carbon factor are they using?

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

Fair point on the carbon factor. UK grid is getting cleaner fast so those lifetime savings might be overstated. Still, the community ownership model is interesting. Egni has done over 100 sites already. That's real track record, not just a pilot.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The Local Energy Fund structure matters here. 20 year loans at what rate? The article doesn't say. If the terms are soft enough, this could be replicable for other co-ops. If not, the model might not scale beyond Wales without subsidy.

solar_winds_05·3 months ago·1 pts

Good catch. Also worth noting they raised 5m from community shares before. That mix of crowdfunding and development bank debt is a template other groups could follow. The education angle with Energy Sparks is a nice bonus for public buy in.