Egni (‘Energy’ in Welsh) is a co-operative that supports the development of solar energy on community owned buildings in Wales thus generating clean energy, enabling community projects to be more financially stable, and giving you a chance to use your money to help shape a more sustainable future.
Their most recent project, in partnership with Solarfit, was to install solar panels on four community buildings in south Wales. These new systems total 99kWp of solar PV, saving 1,000 tonnes of carbon over the lifetime of the panels. In 2014 Egni offered shares to fund these systems. Members are projected to receive a 4% return on their investment, as well as a 50% tax break on the amount invested.
Egni is a solar PV co-operative and is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. It raised £171k from 94 members to install 99kw on four sites in the local area: Glynneath Training Centre, Dove Workshop, Awel Aman Tawe and Ysgol y Bedol. A further 30kw are to be installed at Ysgol Brynaman. The two schools are owned by Carmarthenshire County Council.
The purpose of the project is to generate electricity from solar PV panels which displaces electricity that would otherwise come from fossil fuels. Some electricity is used by the buildings on which the solar panels are mounted and the surplus energy is fed into the grid, thus providing the building owners/occupiers a significant saving on their energy bills
The Egni scheme is one of a kind and is making noteworthy waves on the renewable energy scene. Egni won Renewables UK Cymru Start-up of the Year Award - Egni - RenewablesUK Cymru Energy Startup Winner and was invited to present at the Powering-Up Conference in Oxford alongside Carmarthenshire County Council. Most recently, the Welsh Government Minister for Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant, launched Egni’s panels at Dove Workshops in January 2015.
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