The Community Energy Unit (CEU) at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has funded 135 projects and spent almost £1 million since its launch in December 2002.

The range and size of projects - both completed and underway - are extremely varied covering wind turbines powering local schools, hydrogen fuel cells, woodfuel boilers in housing schemes and even solar powered bus stops! 

All the projects have the impact of reducing the CO2 emissions in energy and heat production.  In addition community facilities are benefiting from heat being supplied from systems with lower running costs.

With funding from the Scottish Executive the CEU has seven development officers based throughout the Highlands and Islands delivering a range of funding packages to support renewables projects.  Eric Dodd is the CEU manager - based at Cowan House in Inverness.  He also deals with applications for assistance from groups within the Inverness and Nairn Enterprise and Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise areas.

Eric says that his team is witness to a growing demand from communities and other organisations for environmentally friendly renewable energy solutions.

Commenting on the success of the scheme so far, Eric said: "We have been really encouraged by the response from community organisations since we started 18 months ago.  The CEU team have been working hard to ensure that community projects go-ahead with the appropriate funding and management.

"One of our most recent projects is the Averon Leisure Centre in Alness which has installed a woodfuel heating system with a grant of £55,400.  The wood fuel boiler will make significant savings in the cost of heating the building and reduce CO2 emissions.  The wood fuel is supplied from the local wood recycling centre, which results in an additional environmental saving and local benefits."

New homes in Campbeltown are also going green with a wood fuel heating system at a Fyne Homes development in the Kintyre town.  The CEU, via the Scottish Executive funded Scottish Community and Household Renewable Initiative (SCHRI), has awarded the housing agency £70,600 to install a Biomass system, which will use a woodchip boiler to provide hot water and underfloor heating.  This will improve the quality of heating homes economically while reducing the C02 emissions.

In Lochaber the CEU helped the Acharacle community to install a 30kW wood fuel boiler to heat the local post office.  A grant worth £4,662 from the Unit helped the project get underway last August and the community is now looking to extend the system so that is can supply heat to the adjacent community house.

Lochaber is also the location of the only CEU hydro projects to date with £13,700 going towards a hydro plant to provide energy to the pier on Eigg, displacing a diesel generator.

Another recent project is the community hall on Tiree.  A 6kW wind turbine has been installed to provide electricity to heat the new hall.  This will supply up to 18,000 kW of electricity resulting in a saving of over £1000 and eight tonnes of C02 a year
 
Similar wind to heat projects have been developed on Shetland, Orkney and Harris with wind energy supplying the heat to community buildings.

Ten new homes in Kingussie - built by the Albyn Housing Association - are kept warm with a solar air heating system.  The project acts as a demonstration location for solar air heating and ventilation in electrically heated homes.  The housing scheme project was awarded £25,000 from the SCHRI

Another recently completed project - again with funding from the SCHRI - was the installation of a ground source heat pump at the Glenelg and Arnisdale Hall in Lochalsh.  The new hall was officially opened in March to serve these remote communities.  Funding support worth £24,824 was awarded to the project by the CEU. 

Ground source heat pumps extract heat from the ground which is then used in buildings, usually in the form of underfloor heating.  This is not new technology, but new to most heating contractors in the Highlands and Islands.  Therefore Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise and Western Isles Enterprise helped fund two local contractors' on-the-job training as the ground source heat pump was being installed at the community hall.

Heat pumps have also been used for the New Valley Housing Association project in Stornoway and for the Shawbost Community Centre.

A further ground source heat pump project is underway in Kirkwall.  The Orkney Housing Association has been awarded £77,000 to install nineteen 3.7kW heat pumps into a new housing development in the town's Great Western Road.  This will help householders to save on their power bills as well as help to reduce emissions.

In the Western Isles, one of the best examples of integrated renewable energy systems can be seen at the recently opened Sir E Scott School and Sports Centre on Harris.  SCHRI funding of £36,000 is helping to meet the cost of a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures as part of the comprehensive refurbishment and expansion of the facility.  Solar hot water heating systems, solar electricity as well as low grade renewable circuits will help to make the building an 'Energy Demonstration Centre' and will result in reduced emissions and significant financial savings.

The SCHRI, with a £44,460 grant, are also supporting a biofuels project in Orkney which has been developed by Westray Development Trust in partnership with the Agronomy Institute and the Scottish Agriculture College, with crops being grown and processed.  The main objectives of the project are to identify the supply chain and to achieve an overall energy balance.

The Port Ellen School in Islay and Holm Primary school in Inverness have both received grants to take forward education projects involving renewable energy.  The Port Ellen school received £2000 to develop a wind and solar power irrigation system for a flora display at the entrance to the school.  Holm primary now have a small wind turbine and solar panel that supplies electricity to a school computer.  This project was part of a wider environmental project which the school received an award for. 

Finally in Shetland, an innovative project is being established to look at the potential of hydrogen as an energy source.  The Promoting Unst Renewable Energy (PURE) venture is funded by various public bodies including the CEU.

Hydrogen is a very clean fuel produced from the electrolysis of water and can easily be stored.  It is used either through combustion or through the powering of fuel cells to produce electricity.  Hydrogen is regarded by many as the fuel of the future offering a clean, renewable alternative to fossil fuels.

Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, said:  "I am delighted at the success of the SCHRI in the Highlands and Islands area.  The Initiative has sponsored many renewable energy installations in outlying community facilities, in many cases replacing fossil fuel, and allowing communities to experience the benefits of renewable energy first hand. 

"However, the Initiative is also underpinning the work of HIE's Community Energy Unit to grow wood fuel supply chains in the Highlands and Islands, and to establish greater networking and the exchange of best practice among communities participating in renewable energy projects.

"The scheme has been tremendously successful and we will look at how we can build on this success in the future."

Looking forward, Eric Dodd, CEU manager explained: "The CEU is working on various new initiatives but more importantly we are here to ensure the initiatives we have assisted remain viable. An example of this was in December after the collapse of Torren Energy, when we assisted with dispersal of wood fuel knowledge so alternative wood fuel suppliers could step into the market place in Argyll, Lochaber and Skye.  Ensuring the boilers were maintained and wood fuel used effectively.

"Furthermore, we are working in partnership with the Forestry Commission to develop woodfuel clusters across the Highlands and Islands with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund to purchase boilers and develop local wood fuel supply chains.  This has a dedicated project officer who works closely with the CEU.

"Another important aspect of our work is the dissemination of information about the effectiveness of the different types of renewable energy kit and in particular the comfort levels in houses and buildings with ground source heat pumps.  Or the effect solar air systems have on improving the use of electric heating."  

The Community Energy Unit has a list of projects to be developed across the area.  Although the CEU have fully committed their budget for this financial year, they are keen to hear about new projects that can be developed.  The unit is eager that the scheme continues and more funding becomes available.

On the wider renewable scene the CEU and HIE have been active in assisting with developing large scale community owned renewables.  The first example of this is the community owned wind farm on Gigha.  The CEU have identified an opportunity and a demand for similar community projects and have developed the idea of a Community Energy Company to assist with the development and financing of these projects.

For more information on the Community Energy Unit telephone: 01463 244202 or log on to: www.hie.co.uk/community-energy.html