Community-owned Pomona Solar Co-op, established in 2015, has just celebrated 10 years of generating clean solar power for four local businesses and the surrounding area, while raising funds to support local causes.
To mark the achievement, the volunteer directors and members were joined on 25 July by local MP Ellie Chowns and a range of other guests, in a celebration of Pomona and other community energy initiatives. The venue? Almeley village hall, whose new solar roof and battery storage were funded in part by Pomona’s community fund – two of the Almeley team described the hurdles of putting that in place. The gathering also heard about plans from Big Solar Co-op and from Shropshire and Telford Community Energy’s. wind and heat network.
Pomona’s site near Tarrington is fairly small by modern standards, with a generating capacity of 300 kilowatts – about the same as 80 domestic rooftops of solar PV. Over the past 10 years Pomona has generated 2900 megawatt hours (the amount that about 105 homes would use over the course of 10 years). If this amount of electricity had come from a gas-fired power station, it would have produced 15,000 tons of CO2, so there’s been a climate benefit too.
Pomona Co-op’s almost 100 members are mostly local people, who raised funds for the solar installation by making various-sized investments 10 years ago. Some of the electricity generated is bought by local businesses, and what they don’t need is sold via the grid. Each year the co-op members receive an interest payment, and the co-op puts funds aside to support community projects in Herefordshire. So far, almost £12,000 has been donated, to support low-energy lighting (Courtyard Theatre), an energy survey (Llanwarne Village Hall), to support particularly vulnerable people with energy bills (Macmillan Cancer Support), work with local environment groups (Herefordshire Green Network), a scheme to encourage more community energy (Power to the People) along with funding about 50% of the Almeley scheme. The scheme was built by, and is maintained by Herefordshire firms.
“Community energy schemes like this have so many benefits”, says one of the volunteer directors, Chris Boote. “Mind you, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. But we’re looking forward to the next 10 years of solar generation from the site, and to being able to support more local projects. And we’d love to see more community energy schemes take shape across the county”.