Green Energy Awards

Last night, on the 27 November, the sustainable energy industry gathered at the glittering Green Energy Awards dinner in Bath to celebrate the companies, projects and individuals leading our energy system towards a net-zero future.

The awards are a leading national celebration of the innovative technologies, pioneering companies and inspiring individuals shaking up the energy system. The prestigious awards ceremony, now in its sixteenth year, is a highlight of the sustainable energy calendar. More than 120 entries were submitted from across the UK to five categories, with the winners announced at a sold out ceremony at the beautiful venue of the Assembly Rooms in Bath.

The winners, which represent the very best examples of sustainable energy were:

• Mixergy – winner of the Clean Energy System Disruptor award, sponsored by Wales & West Utilities

• The Cornwall Local Energy Market, Centrica – winner of the Clean Energy Scheme award, sponsored by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

• Oxford City Council – winner of the Local Energy Leadership award

• Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-operative – winner of the Community Energy Initiative award

• Meleri Davies – winner of the Clean Energy Pioneer award

“The Green Energy Awards celebrate the exciting projects, great companies and inspiring people driving the smart and sustainable energy revolution across the UK. As we tackle the challenge of eliminating carbon emissions, the Awards demonstrate just what we can achieve” said Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen, which organises the Awards.

The winners were chosen from a high-quality shortlist of entrants by an independent panel of expert judges:

• Lord Robin Teverson - member of the House of Lords, where he leads on energy and climate change issues for the Liberal Democrats

• Afsheen Rashid - a community energy specialist with over ten years’ extensive experience of working with communities and local authorities

• Phil Bazin - lead of the environment team at Triodos Bank since 2013

• Adriana Laguna - the low-carbon technologies and external engagement manager at UK Power Networks

• Phil Graham - chief executive of the National Infrastructure Commission with extensive experience across the infrastructure sector

THE WINNERS: PROJECT DETAILS

Oxford City Council - Oxford City Council is tackling both its carbon emissions from its estate and operations through its carbon management strategy, and those from across its patch. City-wide carbon reduction initiatives are driving down energy costs, reducing fuel poverty, improving air quality, enabling market uptake of new technologies, driving innovation in the local energy sector and offering wider leadership.

Cornwall Local Energy Market, Centrica - Centrica’s Distributed Energy and Power business has created a pioneering trial in Cornwall; a virtual marketplace that will provide participants with a platform to buy and sell energy and flexibility both to the grid and the wholesale energy market. The project uses local companies to install and connect 100 residential batteries and a range of flexible low-carbon energy technologies into 125 businesses across Cornwall.

Mixergy - is designed to behave like a battery; allowing homeowners to only ‘charge’ what they’ll use, saving energy at point of use and storage. This partial storage of hot water means that capacity can be used for absorbing renewable energy from the national grid or locally, helping decarbonise the energy network.

Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-op (BHESCo) - BHESCo have raised over £600k and saved 321 tonnes of CO2, having developed an innovative business model to support households cutting their energy bills and carbon emissions, from rooftop solar and battery storage to heat pumps and insulation measures. A total of 42 projects have been completed to date, raising £600,000 from the community to pay for them, reducing CO2 emissions by 321 tonnes a year and saving customers £83,880 annually.

Meleri Davies - Since beginning her work Meleri has helped develop a wide range of sustainable energy projects, from a community-owned hydro scheme expected to generate 500 Megawatt hours to a new electric vehicle car club, in a rural area of North Wales that might not, perhaps, be the most obvious place for community energy to thrive.