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Fenland Green Power Co-operative awards £10,000 funding to local charity

Home » Fenland Green Power Co-operative awards £10,000 funding to local charity

October 31, 2016 Written by: Peterborough Environment City Trust

Local charity Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT) has been awarded £10,000 funding from the Fenland Green Power Co-Operative.

With these funds, combined with further match-funding, the charity will aim to deliver over £45,000 energy savings for low-income households, making a real impact in the community and improving residents’ quality of life in South Holland. The work is expected to start in early 2017.

There are over 40,000 households in this area, of which more than 3,000 are estimated to be fuel poor. In addition to this, 37.5% of households are off-grid, which is more than double the national average. PECT aims to reduce fuel poverty in the area, by providing vulnerable households with the information and resources needed to stay warm and healthy.

The funding for this project has been granted to PECT by the Fenland Green Power Co-operative, which own two turbines at Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, funded by a members’ subscription of over 1,000 share holders.

The two turbines produce an annual output of 9.5million kWh, sufficient for powering over 2,000 homes and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 5,000 tonnes a year. Profits from the turbines are distributed to co-operative members and to community funds, such as sustainable energy educational activities in the Fens.

“Fenland Green Power Co-operative is delighted to support PECT in its ambition to reduce fuel poverty in South Holland. We are impressed by their approach and by what they have achieved with this programme elsewhere,” explains Jan Mellmann, Chairman of the Fenland Green Power Co-operative Ltd. “We will be working with PECT over the coming months to ensure the project launches successfully in the new year.”

“As a charity, our mission is to protect and enhance the environment throughout Peterborough and beyond,” explains PECT’s CEO Carly Leonard. “We see the reduction of energy use as an essential element in helping us achieve this aim. Forming this collaboration with a community-owned green energy co-operative further fulfils these ambitions and we’re delighted to be part of this project.”

For more information about PECT and its work, please visit the website at www.pect.org.uk. To find out more about the Fenland Green Power Co-Operative take a look at www.fens.coop.