Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by the MW of solar power generated; tonnes of CO2 emissions saved; net revenue generated for the Council by producing our own electricity; and the provision of other Council services (adult social care services) that are part-funded by this additional income.
Our story
Generating electricity is responsible for 23% of UK greenhouse gases and councils have a key role to play by generating their own renewable electricity on buildings and land assets, ensuring energy is not wasted and supporting the switch to renewable energy sources across their own operations.
Cambridgeshire County Council is aiming to make all the buildings it owns and operates fossil fuel-free by 2025. We are doing this through a range of opportunities including developing a series of solar energy projects.
Solar farms that deliver surplus energy and therefore revenue are prioritised, in order to strengthen the council's finances. This approach has been incorporated into the council's six priorities for renewable energy, outlined in its Corporate Energy Strategy, which guides all energy projects in the county, including those on the council's own estate. They are:
- creating low carbon energy;
- local generation and supply;
- energy efficiency;
- managing cost (via negotiating contracts and collective purchasing);
- generating income;
- supporting sustainable growth.
The Triangle Solar Farm in Soham was an early pilot case for Cambridgeshire and has since become the council's flagship project fulfilling all six of its criteria. Construction of the 45,000 panel, 70-acre solar farm began in 2016 and it went live in January 2017. This 12MW solar farm produces enough energy to power 3,000 homes.
Triangle Farm was built on the basis of a 25-year life span, over which it will provide an income to the council. This has benefitted communities through support for the council's frontline services.
Triangle was the springboard for Cambridgeshire to expand its vision. New solar projects in the pipeline total 42MW and will focus on using the council's assets at park and ride sites, disused landfill sites and across its rural estate.
Our advice
Anticipate changes in the energy market: being flexible and anticipating surprise changes is crucial when overseeing renewable energy ventures, because the market is always rapidly evolving.
Stagger new projects: at times, we struggled with having multiple projects in the pipeline coming to fruition simultaneously. This caused a spike in workload, meaning the team had to manage numerous projects with too few resources. Other councils can learn from this by staggering their projects.
Engage council officers: an important lesson is ensuring council officers are willing to take others on their journey. In Cambridgeshire, the Energy Investment Unit worked on the edges of the council to build up its own expertise but recognised that to move at scale this knowledge needed to be transmitted to a wider set of people within the authority.
Finding the right sites: Cambridgeshire County Council manages significant amounts of agricultural land, giving it multiple site options for solar projects. Other councils, especially urban ones, will be more pushed for space, and more likely to focus on installing solar on buildings, though brownfield sites can be suitable for solar projects in urban areas.
Sources of funding: Due to economies of scale and a steep drop in set-up costs and prices for solar panels, councils should be able to construct a viable business model without national government support. Cambridgeshire now operates on a 'no subsidy' business model. The size of projects has increased so that economies of scale will enable us to work subsidy-free.
