1 The south west now generates around 394 GWh of renewable electricity Renewable Energy from wind each year, which accounts for 28 per cent of renewable electricity in the south west, and 1.5 per cent of Progress Report: our electricity demand South West 2012 Annual Survey Renewable Energy Progress Report: South West 2012 Annual Survey 3 Contents Foreword Foreword 3 Last year global investment in renewable Renewable electricity 4 energy reached £165 billion – on par with Renewable heat 8 fossil fuel investment. The low-carbon Low-carbon economy 12 energy revolution is underway. R&D and technology development 14 This report uses the south west of England as a ‘test bed’ to 3. Some of our elected representatives are misreading the Regen SW’s advisory services 16 look in more detail at what is powering this revolution. It sets public mood: local opinion polls, as well as our experience out the excellent renewable energy resources, the progress we at community events, show a strong and consistent majority Case studies 17 are making in harnessing them and the lessons we can draw for supportive of all renewables, based on a common sense the national Renewable Energy Roadmap to increase the speed view that in an uncertain world we should make the most of Anaerobic digestion and sewage gas 18 of deployment and job creation. our local energy resources. The past year in the south west has seen record growth in 4. We need all renewables: small, medium and large: solar PV Biomass 20 renewable electricity from 218 MW to over 520 MW and has dominated this year’s figures in the south west, but consistent growth in renewable heat. This investment has led to there is no silver bullet. We need all the main renewable Energy from waste 22 strong growth in jobs. We estimate we could be approaching Regen SW is a leading centre of sustainable energy technologies. 10,000 people employed in the sector, up from 5,000 in just Landfill gas 23 energy expertise. We work to inspire change, two years. The great majority of this growth is in small and 5. Communities must be engaged in renewable energy back business, drive low carbon economic medium-sized projects – a wind farm at Fullabrook in North developments: developers need to adapt to the fact that Heat pumps and geothermal 24 growth, and prepare the ground for the Devon was the only large project installed. large-scale renewable energy schemes will increasingly development and delivery of sustainable energy require active community involvement to gain acceptance. It is particularly rewarding in Regen SW’s tenth year to see this Hydropower 26 in the south west and beyond. scale of growth on our key objectives of increased jobs and MWs. However, what counts is this is not just a blip. The five Offshore renewables 28 To learn more about our work and how you can lessons we draw to see this level of growth continue are: It is particularly rewarding in join us, and the local authorities, businesses, 1. Clear, consistent government policy is vital: the Feed-in Regen SW’s tenth year to see Onshore wind 30 community groups and other organisations we Tariff stimulated huge interest in renewables and drove down this scale of growth on our key costs. The rapid changes impacted on investor confidence work with, please visit our website or look inside objectives of jobs and MWs. Solar PV and solar thermal 32 the back of this publication. but as a new policy framework for solar is put in place, www.regensw.co.uk investment is flowing again. Clarity on ROCs, Electricity Regen SW’s impact and future 34 Market Reform and the Renewable Heat Incentive over the coming months will be vital. 2. To make the most of the economic opportunities we need a joined up plan: the south west’s long term strategy of investing in infrastructure and skills has enabled a cluster of world-leading marine renewables companies to develop. DECC is endorsing the South West Marine Energy Park to build on this success. The government could use this example to do more to support strategic development of key sectors. Renewable Energy Progress Report: South West 2012 Annual Survey 5 Renewable electricity Total SW renewable electricity capacity: 525 MW Total number of projects in the SW: 55,505 New capacity in 2011/2012: 308 MW New projects in 2011/2012: 47,423 New capacity in 2010/2011: 28.8 MW New projects in 2010/2011: 6,077 The Met Office in Exeter now features a vast 250 kW solar PV array on its roof. The array, installed by SunGift Solar, generates up to 1,000 kWh of electricity per day, enough to meet the demand of one of the organisation’s three supercomputers, saving New capacity in 2009/2010: 16.8 MW New projects in 2009/2010: 936 116 tonnes of C02 per year 2011/2012 was an exceptional year for the deployment of For the south west to play its role in achieving national targets as renewable electricity projects in the south west of England. set out in the Renewable Energy Roadmap - to generate 15 per Table 1 – Installed renewable electricity in the south west (April 2012) Installed capacity more than doubled, from 218 MW a year ago cent of energy demand from renewable sources by 2020 - 4 to 525 MW in April this year. The number of projects installed 19 TWh of renewable energy would need to be generated . Total New 2011/2012 Electricity increased by over 47,000, a dramatic leap from the 2010/2011 Across the south west in the past year the opportunities, and the Number of projects Capacity (MWe) Generation (GWh) Number of projects Capacity (MWe) Generation (GWh) total of 8,084 projects. experiences of installing renewable energy on the ground, have AD 9 7.335 51.4 2 1.000 7.01 This sharp increase can be attributed to three main areas of provided a wealth of knowledge. This leads to important lessons Hydropower 105 9.580 21.0 7 0.124 0.272 development: 160 MW of small and medium-scale solar for delivering against the government’s Renewable Energy Landfill Gas 36 83.584 586 1 0.463 3.25 photovoltaic (PV) installations; more than 75 MW of stand-alone Roadmap at both a local and national level. Onshore Wind 405 149.931 394 51 68.527 210 solar farms; and the construction of the 66 MW wind farm at Sewage Gas 19 12.705 89.1 1 0.850 5.96 Solar PV 54928 260.432 240 47361 237.135 202 Fullabrook in North Devon. Whilst the construction of Energy from waste 3 1.28 10.7 0 0 0 Fullabrook has been long anticipated, the effect of the Feed-in With the completion of Fullabrook, Devon’s capacity from Total 55505 524.847 1392 47423 308.099 428 Tariff (FiT) on both capacity and numbers of PV projects was onshore wind has now overtaken Cornwall, and their largely unexpected. overall capacity is up to the same level. The past year has also seen significant growth across the other areas of Renewable electricity capacity in the south west has increased 5 the south west, with a clear increase in capacity from Figure 1 – Installed renewable electricity capacity across the south west (April 2012) by 162 per cent in the past year, whereas generation has solar PV. In Cornwall, Wiltshire and Somerset over half of Installed renewable electricity capacity (MW) increased by only 56 per cent1. It is now estimated that in total 140 the increase is due to stand-alone solar farms. The the renewable energy projects currently installed in the south greatest percentage growth in capacity was in Devon, AD west generate 1.4 TWh of electricity - around 5.5 per cent of Wiltshire and Somerset. 120 Energy from waste the most recent total electricity demand figures for the region of Hydro 25 TWh2. This is significantly lower than the national picture, Landfill gas where 11 per cent of electricity was supplied from renewable 100 Onshore wind sources at the start of 20123. Sewage gas Solar PV The challenge is not the availability of resources. In 2010 80 Regen SW undertook an assessment of onshore renewable energy resources. The assessment found there are resources 60 for over 27.6 TWh of renewable energy within the region, the majority of which is from renewable electricity and combined heat and power generators. It is clear that with only 525 MW 40 of installed capacity, generating an estimated 1.4 TWh, there is a long way to go before the region begins to run out of 20 potential resources. 1 This is due to the lower capacity factor of solar PV, both building-integrated and large-scale stand-alone, in comparison to other technologies that previously provided a greater percentage of 0 the south west’s capacity, such as wind and hydropower. Former Avon Cornwall & IoS Devon Dorset Gloucestershire Somerset Wiltshire 2 DECC Sub-National Energy Consumption Statistics 2010 http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/regional.aspx 3 DECC Quarterly Energy Statistics 2012 www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/publications/trends/trends.aspx 4 Based on 2009 figures from the south west with a 4 TWh decrease on demand due to energy efficiency and energy-reduction measures 5 Excluding projects of unconfirmed location Renewable Energy Progress Report: South West 2012 Annual Survey 7 Figure 2 – Number of FiT PV installations in 2011/2012 5000 Number of projects installed weekly The Feed-in Tariff driving 4000 growth in 2011/12 3000 Solar parks Solar parks are likely to be a The first half of 2011 saw great interest from national and 2000 international developers in large-scale solar parks in the south west major part of the 2012/2013 due to the Feed-in Tariff (FiT).