27 June 2014
Members of Shoreham Port and the Brighton Energy Co-operative were relieved that the rain held off during an official visit from Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove, and Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change. Mr Weatherley and Mr Barker were invited down to Shoreham Port to see the progress made to the solar panel project run by Brighton Energy Co-operative on Shed 3A.
The installation of the solar panels is part of a community funded project organised by the Brighton Energy Co-operative and installed by The Little Green Energy Company. So far 818 solar panels have been fixed onto the roof of Shed 3A. At peak generation the panels can produce up to 200kw of energy.
The energy generated will be used to power a number of facilities around the Port including the Brighton Terminal, the dust suppression system and other operational areas. There are also plans to extend the concept to tenant’s buildings and other port operators in later phases.
Rodney Lunn, Chief Executive at Shoreham Port commented “As an Eco-Port we are delighted to support the Brighton Energy Co-operative in their goal of achieving sustainable energy development in the South East. The solar panel scheme has received extensive support from the local community and we look forward to continuing to reduce our carbon footprint as the project grows.”
Will Cottrell, Director of the Brighton Energy Co-operative added “It is great news that Mr Barker is a fan of community energy and he’s absolutely right when he points out that there is huge potential for building-mounted solar nationwide. It's clear the community is interested in funding schemes like ours. We're now keen to talk to more landlords like Shoreham Port to help them reduce bills and step up their carbon reductions.”
For further information about the Brighton Energy Co-operative please visit brightonenergy.org.uk.
