What have BHESCo been up to in 2021?
Energy Saving Service completes 1,000th energy survey
BHESCo launched our Energy Saving Service back in 2016, providing bespoke energy surveys for all manner of clients who want to understand and reduce their energy use. We have supported hundreds of households, helping both those who are able to pay and those who are at risk of fuel poverty. We have visited a great variety of commerical clients too, including shops, leisure centres, churches, restaurants, and even an animal sanctuary.
This year, as part of delivering a fuel poverty alleviation campaign in partnership with UK Power Networks, our Energy Saving Team reached the incredible milestone of delivering their 1,000th energy survey.
Speaking of this achievement, Tim Beecher (Retrofit Assessor) said: “It has always been a core part of BHESCo’s strategy to focus on improving the energy efficiency of local properties. It has been a privilege to support so many forward-thinking clients on their journey to a more sustainable future”.
In June of this year BHESCo’s founder and CEO, Kayla Ente, was appointed as an honorary Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). The honour was conferred by The Queen in recognition of Ms Ente’s services to community-led energy efficiency projects.
Commenting on this tremendous achievement, Kayla said:“To be recognised with one of the highest honours in England for work that I am extremely passionate about makes me very proud.This award demonstrates people’s recognition that change happens on a micro level and community energy services provide a means of transitioning to clean, affordable local energy solutions on a national level.”
Low carbon heating study in Crowhurst
In partnership with Energise Sussex Coast and RINA Tech Ltd, BHESCo won a bid from the Rural Community Energy Fund to undertake a low-carbon heating feasibility study in the Sussex village of Crowhurst. The village is not connected to the gas grid and most properties rely on oil and LPG for their heating and hot water.
To gain an understanding of the heat and power needs of village residents BHESCo energy advisers completed a detailed data-gathering survey of fifty properties in the village. Our Project Management Team are now analysing the data to inform the design of a low-carbon alternative based on heat pump technology combined with energy efficiency improvements. We will present our findings to the village in January 2022.
Hosting our community energy animated film premiere
Thanks to funding awarded by Patagonia EU, the ethical clothing brand, BHESCo commissioned a short animated explainer video to coincide with the UK hosting the COP26 climate conference. Community Energy England agreed with us that it was important for delegates to understand the value that community energy projects deliver, and we were delighted that this video was included as part of their presence at COP26.
The video was premiered at an in-person event that BHESCo hosted in October, where we also screened Patagonia’s ‘We The Power’ feature film which looks at the rise of community energy projects across Europe.
Low carbon heating for Kingston Pavillion
BHESCo was approached by the Kingston Pavillion Committee to help them identify a low-carbon option for replacing the existing gas boiler at their building in Kingston village.
Having only been built in 2010, the building has good levels of thermal efficiancy in addition to having an underfloor heating system. This made it an ideal candidate for an air source heat pump. BHESCo presented an analysis of the economic benefits of the technology and project managed the installation of a heat pump on behalf of Kingston Parish Council. We expect the new heat pump to reduce emissions from the building by 42 tonnes of CO2 over its operational lifetime (equivalent to 105,554 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle).
Solar power at NetWerks
Earlier this year The Werks Group opened a co-working space located in the old Lewes Town Hall, a building that had been abandoned for years and has now be given a new lease of life. BHESCo was commissioned to upgrade the energy performance of the property before it was opened for business. We designed and project managed the installation of a variety of energy efficiency measures plus an 11.73kW rooftop solar power array.
The solar panels are expected to generate 9,468 kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually, enough to fully charge an electric car 237 times. NetWerks is a creative and digital space in the heart of Lewes, combining co-working, a coffee shop, office spaces and a tech bureau.
Looking ahead to 2022
2021 was certainly the most tumultuous year in recent memory for the energy industry, with 28 suppliers going bust as a result of high wholesale prices. We expect that 2022 will continue to see high prices and challenging times for those who already struggle with heating costs, and BHESCo will do everything we can locally to support those most in need.
We also predict that the huge spike in the retail cost of energy will bring new business opportunities for BHESCo as more businesses and organisations see the benefits of working with community energy groups. There is a more compelling case than ever for large energy users to start generating their own on-site clean energy and to reduce demand through energy efficiency upgrades.
BHESCo will continue to bring new innovations to market, with 2022 being a flagship year for energy management tools supporting our customers to keep heat and power prices low in a volatile fossil fuel based energy market. We are working with our partners to scale up their ambitions, supporting communities, industry and the public sector in meeting their carbon emission reduction targets.
In closing, we would like to thank all of our shareholders, staff, volunteers and followers for your support throughout a challenging year.
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to seeing you again in 2022.
Very best wishes,
The BHESCo Team
1 Comment
Joe · 24/12/2021 at 17:06
You’ve had quite the year doing some remarkable work, well done on the MBE also! Good to see you’re already looking forward to what you can achieve in 2022, hopefully we can all enjoy a little more stability, but who knows?