76 NET ZERO
COMMUNITY POWER
Lancashire’s renewable future should be powered by local communities, according to a leading figure from the UK’s new national energy champion.
Helen Seagrave is director of local energy at Great British Energy. The publicly owned company has been set up by the government to accelerate the roll-out of clean, secure, home-grown energy and help make Britain a “clean energy superpower”.
She told the conference she believed that when it comes to wind energy it should be inclusive for residents and groups living near projects.
Helen said: “I do think people that aren’t happy about wind developments don’t want to feel like things are being done to them and would prefer to be more involved with the projects.
“That’s about getting people involved through things like shared ownership schemes or helping to manage community benefit funds.”
She added: “If you’ve got some kind of stake in the project you can feel a sense of ownership and pride in it. There’s a lot to be said for getting good community engagement.”
Cubico Sustainable Investments is looking to develop the largest onshore wind farm in England at Scout Moor II on hills near Rossendale.
Peter Rowe, development manager at Cubico,
agreed that a lot of wind farms had not had some of the community benefits highlighted by Helen.
He said the Scout Moor project included plans to share revenue with the local community, adding: “If the wind farms do well, the community should also do well.”
And he told the conference the development would deliver “real benefits”, given its location near major conurbations.
He added: “We’ve got a grid connection in 2030 and investment behind us and this scheme could be delivered in the next five years if it gets planning approval. Scout Moor can really happen.”
Ged Ennis, founder of Burnley based solar energy experts Low Carbon Energy, said there were good opportunities for the sector in the county.
He said its projects were scalable and, in most cases, solar panels were roof mounted. And he added that Lancashire had “acres of roof space” that could be utilised.
Low Carbon Energy has installed a solar farm at Crow Wood Hotel and Ged pointed out that during the morning of the conference those solar panels had saved the hotel £400.
He added: “Crow Wood say it will take three or four years to pay back the cost and then they’ll get more than 25 years of free energy.”
Ged Ennis
WORKING THROUGH THE SKILLS GAP
As Lancashire moves towards a Net Zero future one of the biggest barriers to success may not be technology or funding but people.
Becky Toal
The ‘green skills gap’ was highlighted at the conference by Becky Toal, managing director of Crowberry Consulting.
Her business is a Lancashire headquartered environment, ethics and corporate responsibility management consultancy
Becky said: “We are desperately short of decent environmental managers, auditors, carbon accountants - people with technical knowledge around international standards for carbon neutrality.
David Heap
“The Green Skills gap is well known. We’re trying to bridge that gap all the time. There are huge opportunities that young people can move into. But there are massive gaps.”
Becky told businesses leaders in the room they had a role to play. She said: “You can all work with your local universities, and you can all engage with student projects which cost you nothing, just a bit of time.
“We’ve got partnerships with Edge Hill University, Salford University, Lancaster University and University of Liverpool, so look at the talent pool on your doorstep.”
Alan Reid David Heap, managing director of Read-based
Vital Heating Solutions, spoke of upskilling the current workforce and evolving traditional skills for a greener future.
He said: “As our business grows, we’re concentrating on new sectors, how we can make hybrid systems work with renewables.”
And he stressed the shift towards Net Zero wasn’t about abandoning existing skillsets but having transferrable skills which apply to Net Zero jobs.
He said: “An engineer is an engineer. If you’re capable of stripping down a large gas burner or a domestic boiler, you can take those skills into renewables. There are new career routes.”
Alan Reid is an innovation growth specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth. He said: “There’s an awful lot of reskilling needs to be done but we also need to focus on the next generation of young people coming through schools and colleges.
“It has to be a broad picture where the older generations engage with the young people. This is their future.”
He added: “When you employ someone new, you need to train them and give them new skills. They’re not going to be productive from day one.
“You also need to be conscious of the new technologies you are looking to invest training in. It takes a lot of understanding.”
Peter Rowe Helen Seagrave
HARNESSING
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