Renewable energy

• Between 2008 and 2009 the South West’s renewable energy capacity has grown by 10%, rising from 191 megawatts (MW) in the 2008 survey to 211 MW.

Energy use is a major contributor to climate change, a fact that is driving the development of renewable energy schemes. Defra estimates that energy use in the home is responsible for 25% of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions.

Renewable energy is the term used to describe energy flows that occur naturally and continuously in the environment, such as energy from the wind, waves or tides. The origin of the majority of these sources can be traced back to either the sun (energy from the sun helps to drive the earth’s weather patterns) or the gravitational effects of the sun and the moon. This means that these sources are essentially inexhaustible.

Reducing energy consumption by reducing demand and improving energy efficiency is the cheapest and quickest method of reducing carbon emissions. 

The UK has a legally binding renewable energy target. It commits the country to producing 15% of all energy consumed in transport, heat and power generation from renewable sources by 2020. This is an extremely challenging target as the UK presently generates less than 2% of its energy from renewable sources and total energy consumption has been rising in recent years.

At present only 1% of the region’s energy is produced from renewable sources and current policy maintained to 2020 is likely to achieve a total of less than 5%.  Meeting or exceeding the target will require high levels of deployment in all technology areas and a major, successful effort to implement energy efficiency and demand reduction measures.

Analysis by Regen SW indicates that generating 15% and 20% of all energy consumed in the South West from renewables is possible by 2020, but requires rapid changes in national policy and stronger support from decision makers at a local level. Without such changes less than 5% of the region’s energy will come from renewable sources.

The following information is taken directly from Regen SW's 2009 survey.

Between 2008 and 2009 the South West’s renewable energy capacity has grown by 10%, rising from 191 megawatts (MW) in the 2008 survey to 211 MW.

For the first time since the survey was carried out five years ago, renewable heat recorded a bigger annual increase than renewable electricity, with 37% (14.6 MW) compared to 2% (2.89 MW).

Despite some encouraging trends, the total installed renewable energy capacity of 211 MW is still relatively low. Regen SW’s Road to 2020 report estimates the south west needs to install over 7,000 MW to reach a 15% target by 2020, and the region has only reached 1% of this at present.

Renewable electricity

Total renewable electricity capacity recorded in the region is now 154.84 MW, including 2.89 MW since last year’s survey. This increase is comparatively low, as no large-scale schemes have been built, and only one single-turbine wind farm has been commissioned.

Nevertheless, renewable electricity schemes in the region are now producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of 155,160 homes, avoiding the production of 415,870 tonnes of CO2.

72 MW of renewable electricity capacity was approved in 2008 / 2009 – including seven large wind projects (66.5 MW). This means that there is currently 165.7 MW of approved capacity in the region waiting to be built.

470 grid-connected electricity projects were identified through the project, with 95 of them installed in the last year. The majority of the 2.89 MW increase is from the commissioning of the 1.8 MW wind farm at Shooters Bottom in Somerset and the operation of a landfill gas plant at Lean Quarry in Cornwall, which added 0.46 MW to the region’s total.

Cornwall is once again the leading county in the region in terms of installed capacity, with 37% of the region’s total. Devon stays in second place, with 21 per cent, recording the most new installations (27) in this year’s survey. Somerset experienced the largest gross increase in capacity, due to the commissioning of the 1.8 MW wind farm at Shooters Bottom.

Renewable heat

2008 / 2009 has seen a much stronger growth in renewable heat than in renewable electricity, with 14.63 MW of additional capacity installed in 2008 / 2009. This is a net increase of 35.6 per cent on the 2008 total, taking the installed capacity of renewable heat to 55.79 MW.

521 new renewable heat projects were installed in 2008 / 2009, which is an increase of more than a 50% on the previous total.  Almost 80%  of the total renewable heat projects in the region are domestic installations.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly remains the leading county, with almost 26% of the region’s installed renewable heat capacity. Devon is a close second with almost 25%, with the largest increase in 2008/9, adding 4.58 MW to its total.

Wiltshire is the county with the lowest installed capacity of renewable heat at 1.76 MW. However, this represents growth that has more than doubled this year (an increase of 129%).