Energy bills are a worry right now, but people in Gwynedd are slashing their bills by using green technology. Some Ogwen Valley residents joined an energy club which uses a hydro-electric scheme. As a result, they get electricity for 8p a unit at certain times of day – instead of 34p a unit. A separate scheme sells excess power back to the grid, funding grants for local charities and fitting solar panels in the area. The Ogwen Valley is one of several places in Wales with community energy projects. As bills rise, residents said they appreciate them more than ever. Private hydropower schemes ‘on cliff edge’. Wales could be ‘first deforestation free nation’
How do community energy projects work?
About 140 homes in the area are part of a club called “Energy Local” along with the National Trust, which owns a hydro-electric turbine nearby. The homes are not plugged directly into the turbine – they get their power from the National Grid, the same as everyone else. But the energy club members use is matched to the amount of power the turbine is generating.
As long as residents don’t use more power than the turbine produces, their bills stay low. They are charged just under 8p per kW/h in the night, and 16.5p per kW/h between the hours of 16:00 to 20:00. Under the UK government’s price cap scheme, suppliers can charge up to 34p per kWh. The costs are kept low because the power is used locally and does not travel for miles across the National Grid. Smart meters measure what residents use and excess electricity is charged at a higher rate.
Dr Mary Gillie is one of the founders of the scheme, and receives her electricity from it. She said: “People are quite relieved about the prices they’re paying, that they have got a better deal. “But Energy Local is also about using less power where you can – and using it in the evenings when demand is less, but the hydro-electric turbine is still generating. “If you’re not exporting a whole load of power at one point in the day and importing it at another time of the day, then everything becomes cheaper to run. “We’re trying to create a win-win situation which helps on a national scale, but also on a local scale as well.”
Energy Local started in Bethesda in 2016, but now runs 15 similar clubs in Wales including Brecon, Cardigan, Corwen, Crickhowell, Llandysul and Machynlleth. Also in the Ogwen Valley, a separate hydro-electric turbine has been installed by a community company called Ynni Ogwen. It sells its power into the National Grid, but then the money raised is put back into the local area. Over the past five years, it has raised enough money to provide tens of thousands of pounds in grants to community groups, including a local veterans’ organization, a food bank and local sports clubs.
Chairman Gareth Cemlyn Jones said: “I use the phrase ’empowering people’ as a bit of a play on words, but this really does do that. “This is all about people in the community making use of something which is on their doorstep – the power of the water in the river. “It’s brought people together – the community built this, and the community own it. “There is fantastic community spirit in this area, and that comes through in the way that volunteers will clean leaves and debris from the screens that protect the pipe down to the turbine.”
Ynni Ogwen was set up by Partneriaeth Ogwen, a company set up to organise regeneration projects in the area around Bethesda, Llanllechid and Llandygai. Money from Ynni Ogwen also pays for solar panels on community buildings, including the roof of Clwb Rygbi Bethesda, generating more renewable electricity. Will Sandison is director of rugby at the club, and said: “our energy costs have gone up like everyone else. “But having the solar panels is helping keep them under control, and will certainly help us keep out head above water.”
