This article was written for the Haslingfield Parish Council quarterly newsletter, Spring 2025
At a recent East West Rail public meeting organised by Haslingfield Parish Councillors, funding for a local solar farm came up as a possible offsetting “ask”. This sparked some comments and questions, such as, how can that benefit the whole community? Haslingfield and Harlton Eco Group has been looking into the idea of Community Energy, so here is a quick rundown of what that means, to help people decide if it’s something they might like to see locally.
Community Energy is any energy producing (or saving) initiative which provides benefits directly to people instead of to commercial energy companies. Most solar/wind farms currently are owned by energy companies, including fossil fuel companies. The local community may have no say in where these go or what they look like. Community energy projects can put communities in charge and send profits back into community coffers.
Some local examples of community energy include:
Gamlingay Community Turbine, operating since May 2013. Community funded from a combination of loans and investment, it cost £900,000. It generates a 6% rate of return for its investors, and as of 2023 had donated £77k to community projects.
Reach Community Solar Farm, operating since January 2016. Owned and run by a Community Benefit Society made up of local people, it generates enough electricity to power 50 houses. The farm cost £340,000, invested by 112 local people. While providing a good return to investors, it donates some of its income to a Community Benefit Fund to be spent on other local projects.
Whittlesford Memorial Hall Solar Array, operating since January 2012. A 40 panel, 10kw system, it has generated in excess of £50,000 so far for improvements to the hall and community initiatives.
Haslingfield parish can’t install wind turbines because of restrictions around the radio telescopes (these have also paused the UC solar farm planned off Barton Road). However, we could partner with another village, have a solar farm farther from the telescopes, or look at an expanded solar array over the village hall/car park/play area. We could also look at community bulk buy, for solar panels or retrofitting. Interested in helping us scope the possibilities? Write to Michelle Golder at michellegolder@gmail.com.
And some good news for our Parish: according to the Centre for Sustainable Energy’s Impact community carbon calculator, our parish emissions have fallen from 14,089 tCO2e (tons of CO2 equivalent) in 2023 to 10,304 presently. In 2023 we exceeded average South Cambs emissions in every category, but we are now slightly below average emissions for the region in every category but housing. We do still exceed the national average figures, but by less. It’s impossible to say exactly why this might be, but it’s good news nonetheless!