About us
Burnham and Weston Energy CIC is a local energy enterprise which generates electricity from the sun and income to support community projects in the Burnham and Weston area, support the net zero transition and help local households struggling with fuel poverty.
Energy costs Burnham and Weston around £360 million per year, almost all of which leaves the local economy. Burnham and Weston Energy CIC is working towards a future where our energy is locally generated, locally owned and low carbon; with the value of our energy economy being retained locally.
Burnham and Weston Energy CIC is governed by local volunteer directors. Our solar bond offer raised £4million back in 2018, and gave local people and organisations a chance to get involved as investors and shareholders.
We are supported by Communities for Renewables CIC who helped us buy our solar farm and help us manage its technical and financial operation.
Local energy from the sun
Burnham and Weston Energy CIC owns one of the largest community solar projects in the UK.
We have been up and running since June 2016 and our 9.3 megawatt solar array is made up of nearly 36,000 solar panels. These panels generate electricity for the equivalent of over 2,000 homes and income from the sale of electricity and the feed-in tariff.
The solar project is built on land leased from a local farming family at Wick Farm who continue to use the land for agriculture, with the added benefit of shelter for the sheep!
Our project is financed by a long-term loan from Triodos Bank, an ethical bank with UK head offices in Bristol. Our solar bond offer, which raised £4million back in 2018, enabled people and organisations to invest and have a say in the governance of Burnham and Weston Energy CIC.
Funding
As a not-for-profit community interest company, Burnham & Weston Energy is interested in using surplus income to support local community organisations and projects.
We’ve supported some amazing projects in the Highbridge, Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare area to date. Now we want to fund more incredible projects that will make meaningful differences to their communities.
There are currently three ways we can help local schools, charities and community organisations working in the Highbridge, Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare area:
- Our Sunshine Fund provides grants for projects that benefit both the local community and the environment.
- Our Solar Soft Loans help pay for solar panels and energy saving measures for local schools.
- Our Community Retrofit Programme helps community buildings identify cost- and carbon-saving upgrades, such as improved heating systems and insulation, LED lighting, EV charging points and solar panels. We then explore grant funding opportunities for these efficiency upgrades.
Do you have a good idea that could benefit from our support?
Share the sunshine
Our solar bond offer gave people and organisations from the local and wider community the opportunity to invest in Burnham and Weston Energy CIC, and have a say in how we are run.
Our solar bond offer raised its target of £4million in 2018, making it one of the largest community energy crowd funds in the UK to date.
The bonds will pay an initial interest rate of 5 per cent a year, which will rise every year with inflation. The initial investment will be repaid in installments over 18 years. Interest payments are not guaranteed and capital is at risk. The bonds are eligible to be held in a Triodos Innovative Finance ISA which allows investors to earn interest tax-free, or can be held in a self-invested pension plan (SIPP).
Each bondholder was also be given a single share in Burnham and Weston Energy CIC, enabling them to take part in AGM decisions on a ‘1 member 1 vote’ basis. Power to the people!
If you are one of our bondholders and your bank or contact details have changed, please change them via the Triodos Crowdfunding platform, and contact them directly if you have any queries relating to bond interest and capital payments [email protected]
Why Burnham and Weston Energy?
Our energy system is changing again. The old system of big coal and gas power stations in central locations is being replaced with a new system of smaller-scale, local generation from solar, wind and other renewable sources.
Big coal and gas power stations were not always the norm – Weston’s first street lighting came from its very own Weston-super-Mare and District Gas Company, which grew to supply neighbouring towns, including Burnham. Eventually, local companies like these were nationalised, then privatised leaving communities with little power over their energy generation.
With our new local energy system, there are opportunities for villages, towns and cities to go back to generating their own energy again. In doing so, energy can become a benefit rather than a burden to the local economy.
Burnham and Weston Energy CIC has been set up to help the communities for Burnham and Weston take advantage of this opportunity.
Meet the team
Jake Burnyeat
Tom Cosgrove
Denys Rayner
Krista Felek
Angi Lewis
Maria Kelly
Can we help you?
Our solar project provides a solid foundation on which to develop a local energy enterprise with the benefit of a £10 million seed asset supporting the enterprise for the next 25+ years. Burnham & Weston Energy CIC is actively seeking to develop more initiatives that help generate energy and income for the community, and our localities to reduce their carbon emissions and achieve their net zero goals.
This includes ground-mounted and rooftop solar projects, solar and heat buying clubs, community Electric Vehicle charging and helping organisations reduce their energy usage by swapping to LED lighting.
We welcome interest from local organisations who would like to explore how we could help them finance energy generation or reduction projects, or have ideas for potential partnerships. Please get in touch.
Contact us
If you have any questions or are interested in getting involved, please contact us: 01278 558370
Registered office
Burnham and Weston Energy CIC, c/o Communities for Renewables CIC, Redruth House, Cornwall Business Park West, Redruth TR16 5EZ
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