Energise South Downs update
We were delighted to welcome back Catriona Cockburn, CEO, Director and Founder of Energise South Downs to talk about the very real progress her organisation has made since she first spoke at an ERA meeting in September 2023. At that time Catriona had a firm understanding of the theory of community energy but had not yet had the opportunity to put the theory into practice and we were keen to learn how things had worked out!
Catriona began by explaining that Energise South Downs (ESD) is a community energy not for profit community benefit society, one of 400 across the UK, with 5 being in Hampshire, and that they are a member of the umbrella organisation Community Energy England. They have 3 staff, 3 contractors and 8 directors, and have benefitted from funding from both the National Lottery and South Downs National Park Authority.
Their vision is to ‘lead the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy that benefits local communities and is accessible to all’ based in the South Downs National Park and surrounding areas. They aim for their community energy to be community led with local impact.
ESD envisages their work as consisting of 4 pillars: Community Engagement; Generation; Strategy and Influencing; and Signposting.
Their community workshops, ‘Our Future Energy Landscapes’, form a large part of their community engagement work. These workshops aim to discover the types and scale of renewable energy that could meet the needs of local people. Drawing on data and research attendees explore what might be feasible and create space for an informed, balanced conversation about what communities feel is acceptable. These can inspire individual and community action with one workshop leading to a community investigating the potential of a community owned small solar farm.
In 2025 they launched their first share offer, seeking funding for 3 Hampshire projects to put solar panels on some large rooves, these being at Hayling Island Sailing Club; Energise Fitness and Wellness Centre (Alton); and Britannia Reeves (Petersfield). They needed £302,000 and they raised it in 10 days! Amazing!
The money needs to cover installation and maintenance costs, plus providing a fair return for their investors at 5.5%. Further income will come from exporting the electricity produced. The financial model also involves building up a communities benefit fund to fund local projects.
These three projects, all now up and running, have generated 17,256 kWh in 3 months! A truly notable achievement.
One issue for community energy groups is that the regulatory system is not set up in a way that makes it financially possible for small organisations to be able to afford a licence for selling the electricity they generate to multiple people. The Brittania Reeves site in Petersfield provided an innovative solution to this impasse. There is a park home site adjacent to the warehouse and Energise South Downs was able to sell electricity from their installation to the owner of park, who already ran a system for metering and selling electricity to each park home. This is providing cheaper electricity for those home owners, some of whom had previously been struggling with their electricity bills. Catriona is so pleased with this project model that she is actively investigating if there are other park home communities with large rooves adjacent!
ESD is currently investigating more solar projects to pursue, are mapping potential sites for wind power, as well as continuing to work with communities where they have previously run workshops. It sounds as if, in a few years time, we will may well be inviting Catriona back for a further update.