For ten years Bristol Energy Cooperative has been developing community-owned renewable projects across the South West, delivering returns on investments whilst addressing climate change. The 16 projects developed by the coop so far have a combined annual electricity output of over 9 gigawatt hours, which is enough clean energy to power over 3,000 homes.
Furthermore, Bristol Energy Cooperative's highly successful development model has raised over £12 million and channelled £250,000 into projects that support communities, all of that while also delivering investors a return on investment.
The coop is now poised to launch its latest share offer, with a webinar planned for next week at which it will share news of its exciting and innovative new projects including Bristol's first ever hydro electric scheme at Netham Weir, and the UK’s first net zero domestic housing microgrid.
The group is inviting interested people to join the webinar and Q&A so that they can become part of shaping Bristol's clean energy future by investing in the latest share offer.
"So here at Netham there's a huge untapped energy resource" said Bristol Energy Coop Project Developer Will Houghton, on one of the group's promotional videos on YouTube. "There's around 20 tonnes of water passes over this weir every second. So there's a huge amount of energy that goes over the weir and we want to make use of that to generate renewable electricity. The way that will work is that we will have a new channel in the bank and two big archimedes screw turbines. Around 18 tonnes of water every second will flow through these screw turbines turning them round and then with a generator and a variable speed drive that will be converted to renewable electricity and the water will just be discharged immediately downstream of the weir".
Bristol Energy Coop will also be putting in a fish-pass right next to the hydro-pass scheme. At the moment, the weir is a first barrier to fish migration on the River Avon. The fish-pass will enable salmon, sea trout, eel, lamprey and various different species to continue their journey upstream.
The hydroelectric project will generate enough renewable electricity to power around 250 homes, as well as contributing to Bristol City Council's net zero target.
The group's seventh share offer is now live and anyone can invest, anywhere between £100 and £100,000. This will help Bristol reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and earn investors 3.5 percent interest on their investment.
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