Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Having refined our business model for more than a decade and developed more than 60 community energy projects, all of the pieces are in place 2025 to be a year of significant business growth for BHESCo.
The new government has already made it clear that it looks favourably on the community energy sector, and we look forward with eager anticipation to the release of the Local Power Plan.
In our first blog of the year, founder and chief executive Kayla Ente sets out five key goals that BHESCo hopes to achieve in 2025.
Establish Brighton’s first community scale and community owned solar power programme
We have been refining our economic model for a community owned solar power programme for a number of years now, working hard to make the financial offer ‘too good to refuse’ for potential participating households.
Partnering with a trusted local solar panel installer, our goal is to install solar power arrays on at least 50 properties in a neighbourhood or street, setting an example for community led, home grown electricity generation, creating microgrids in the built environment, empowering people to obtain all the benefits of technological innovation associated with smart grids.
For little to no upfront cost to residents, they have the opportunity to invest in their own system, by becoming an investor in BHESCo, a social enterprise dedicated to creating a fair and equitable energy transition for people and planet.
The electricity generated by the solar panels is sold to residents at a significantly lower price than what they currently pay to their energy supplier, meaning they can achieve big reductions on both their energy bill and carbon footprint.
We hope to secure additional financial benefit by selling excess solar power to an energy company, with the profits going back into the community, either to help those struggling to pay bills, or into a community benefit fund to support local activities, like tree planting or upgrading village halls.
For more information on community solar power visit our web page.
Support 1,000 households in fuel poverty
Despite being considered one of the more affluent cities in the UK, there are an estimated 16,000 households in Brighton & Hove who struggle to pay their energy bills and to heat their homes to a healthy temperature.
Throughout 2025, BHESCo will be involved in fuel poverty alleviation programmes with partners including UK Power Networks, Citizens Advice, and Brighton and Hove City Council. Over the course of the year, we expect to provide advice and support to more than 1,000 households who are in need, helping people access grants, improve energy efficiency, and find a cheaper tariff.
If you or somebody you know is struggling with heating and energy costs then please get in contact with a BHESCo energy advisor today.
Complete Phase 1 of ReEnergise Manor Royal
In 2024, BHESCo was appointed by ReEnergise Manor Royal to project manage their aspiration to establish a “Local Energy Community” to decarbonise the Manor Royal Business Park, based near Gatwick Airport.
The first phase of the project will deploy £1 million of funding to install rooftop solar power at several businesses operating in the Manor Royal Estate.
Where economically beneficial, working with the UK Power Networks, the DSO, BHESCo will investigate the feasibility of introducing battery storage technologies to make the best use of the solar electricity generated onsite.
The introduction of solar power will deliver massive savings for participating businesses and help the Manor Royal Business Park take a step towards its carbon reduction goals.
Develop a heat pump project in a block of flats in Brighton & Hove
Over the last few years BHESCo have completed a number of feasibility studies looking at replacing ageing fossil fuel heating systems in blocks of flats with modern clean energy alternatives.
This typically involves replacing an old communal boiler with a heat pump, either ground or air source, distributing heat to apartments throughout the building through modifications to the existing communal system.
In most cases, the building would also require significant improvements to insulation to ensure optimum performance from the heat pump.
You can read more on our work with heat pumps in blocks of flats:
Develop an onshore wind project on the South Coast
The last time BHESCo tried to develop a wind power project it proved impossible due to restrictive planning requirements and a few obstinate dissenting voices.
With a new government in power and with the easing of planning restrictions for onshore wind power, we are hopeful of developing our very first wind power project this year.
We are already in discussion with representatives from one community on the South Coast who are interested in local wind power. We must now make sure that the overwhelming majority is on board with the idea so that we can press ahead with the design stage of the project.
As onshore wind is the cheapest form of electricity generation, and we have copious amounts of wind along the south coast, it just makes sense to generate low cost electricity for the benefit of people living in coastal communities to create a fair and equitable transition to clean, home grown power.
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