Zero Carbon Electric Homes

Zero Carbon Electric Homes

Organisation behind the project

Lune Valley Community Land Trust (CLT) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-led group which was set up in 2019 to build and manage sustainable, energy-efficient, affordable homes for local people in the North Lancashire village of Halton-with-Aughton.

Background and detailed description of the project

The Lune Valley CLT is co-ordinating a plan to build a mix of 40 new rental, shared ownership and privately owned houses connected to an adjacent community-owned renewable energy scheme. The existing scheme, managed by Lancaster Cohousing, is powered by a mix of solar panels and hydroelectricity and supplies 41 residential homes and a number of small business units. Our £10,000 grant will be used to fund a feasibility study to extend the private wire to the new houses.

The new houses comprise 20 affordable homes being built by the CLT in partnership with South Lakes Housing, with significant support from Lancaster City Council. A further 20 homes are being built for over 55s by Halton Senior Cohousing. Both developments will be built to Passivhaus standard and will be entirely powered by electricity.

The current renewable energy generated is far in excess of what is required by existing consumers connected to the private wire and a significant amount of energy is exported to the National Grid. The idea is that the private wire could be extended so the surplus electricity can be used to power the proposed new homes instead.

Before building starts on the new developments, a feasibility study is needed to assess the cost and practicality of the scheme. The study will look at extending the existing private wire to the proposed new developments, providing all-electric homes, installing electric vehicle charging points and battery storage, thus maximising the benefit of being connected to 100% renewable energy source.

If successful, the project will act as a case study for other developments by demonstrating the feasibility of 100% electric, energy-efficient homes, powered by locally-supplied community renewable energy. It will also maximise the community benefits associated with the existing PV and hydro schemes, the profits of which are channelled into a community fund for the benefit of the village.

Project partners

To deliver the Zero Carbon Electric Homes project, the Lune Valley Community Land Trust will be working with a number of partners including:

• Halton Senior Cohousing – to provide information about their development to the consultants
• MORE Renewables – to provide data on the solar power scheme
• Halton Lune Hydro – to provide data on the local hydro generation scheme.

Where to go for further information

For more information on our community and local energy strategy visit our strategy page, or to find out more about the work of the Lune Valley Community Land Trust visit their website.