Heart of England Community Energy
About Us
Heart of England Community Energy is a community benefit society which owns one of the largest community solar farms in the UK. The 15 megawatt array just outside Stratford-upon-Avon has been generating electricity from the sun since 2016. It is made up of around 60,000 solar panels!
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Our not-for-profit community energy enterprise is set up to bring the benefits of local energy to the Heart of England region. We empower local people and organisations by enabling them to invest in, control and benefit from local renewable energy generation. It is an asset-locked community benefit society owned by its members, governed by local volunteer directors and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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We recycle our profits back into the Heart of England area by supporting local charities and projects with a positive social and environmental impact. We also support initiatives to tackling climate change and poverty in developing countries.
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Community Fund
Heart of England Communtiy Energy supports charities and organisations in the local community by using its profits to support projects with a positive social and environmental impact. We also support SolarAid, an international charity which combats poverty and climate change through providing access to solar lights in Uganda, Malawi and Zambia.
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We can fund community and carbon reduction projects located in South Warwickshire,Stratford upon Avon and nearby areas. To find out more about the types of applications we accept, please click on the button below to download more information.
Our solar arrays
Poplars
With a total installed capacity of 4.98MW, Poplars has generated a total output of 4.58GWh this financial year – this exactly meets target (enough to power just under 1,500 typical homes)
Partners
Ethex
Ethex is an award-winning not-for-profit positive investment platform that offers potential investors the opportunity to invest online in a wide range of savings and investment products, offering strong social and environmental benefits, as well as a financial return.
Ethex manages HECE's share and bond register. This includes administering interest and capital payments, keeping contact and bank details up to date, share buy-backs and issue of new shares and probate administration.
ANESCO
Anesco is a UK-based integrated solar company which developed and built the solar farms, and provides ongoing operations and maintenance services.
Anesco has built over 100 solar farms with a combined installe capacity of over 480MWp.
Communities for Renewables CIC (CfR)
CfR CIC is a mission-led community interest company which helps communities to set up local energy enterprises and works with them to develop, finance and manage their own renewable energy generation. CfR provides company and asset management services to Heart of England Community Energy Ltd and its subsidiaries.
Act on Energy:
Act on Energy strive to engage with householders to support them through their energy journey offering a full home energy support service and free, impartial advice with the householder at the centre of all that they do. The organisation is a non-profit and a registered environmental charity based in south Warwickshire.
Heart of England Is using its community benefit to fund the staffing costs:
…to provide assisted action for vulnerable consumers, helping them save money on energy costs through outreach sessions
…to conduct home visits to assess energy efficiency improvements and behavioural change potential of vulnerable households
…to pilot a project to develop a replicable model of engagement within a GP practice for the purpose of identifying those whose poor health is partly due to fuel poverty