Rossendale Valley Energy (RVE) and partners have won the prestigious Energy Innovation award 2024, from Utility Week for their collaborative and innovative approach to deliver low carbon domestic heating.
Energy Innovation award 2024
Kate Gilmartin (volunteer Director with Rossendale Valley Energy) welcomed the award saying, “This endorses our community-based approach to tackling decarbonisation of heat in a collaborative, whole systems approach.
“Being able to offer owner-occupiers and private landlords a scheme that eliminates the need for up-front costs has to be a route forward for people already living on tight budgets.
“We are already working with other community groups across Lancashire and beyond, with the intention that this scheme can be replicated elsewhere.”
The judges noted that RVE have a clear understanding of the problem in decarbonising domestic heating for small, terraced homes. These include some of the most challenging properties, solid stone walls, some being two hundred years old, often stepping out straight onto pavements and without rear yards.
Net Zero Terrace demonstrates how to decarbonise an entire terraced street using a smart local energy system that is integrated with the network but is also optimised and affordable to consumers and easily replicable across Great Britain. The package is designed to include significant amounts of insulation, an ambient temperature ground sourced heat pump and solar panels. Together they will result in healthy warm homes and afford low carbon energy. All with no up-front costs for householders.
Helen Seagrave, community energy manager at Electricity North West, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Net Zero Terrace has been recognised with a prestigious award.
“We operate one of the most digital electricity networks in the world and across the North West, we’re starting to see an increased uptake as more people are using technologies such as heat pumps and electric vehicles.
“The project has a significant benefit to our customers and without a doubt will provide benefits for many years to come.”
RVE were praised by the judges for their determination to deliver a strategy that not only provided a technical solution, but is community centric, whilst also designed to create a package that can attract long term finance for the capital costs.
Additionally, RVE are using a Community Benefit Society model for the business which means any operational surplus will be used for the benefit of the local community.
RVE is part of a wider collaborative partnership working alongside Electricity North-West (ENWL), and the Centre for Energy Equality (CEE) to deliver a package that includes a systematic full fabric insulation package as well ground source heat pumps and rooftop solar panels.
