Neston Community Energy The Journey So Far!
It started with a conversation at a Neston Earth Group meeting about ‘doing something big’. Back in 2023 this group of committed climate change advocates decided to survey the town to see what big ideas residents had for impacting on the climate. Tackling pollution emerged as a key concern and when we looked deeper into responses much of the concern was about emissions from burning fossil fuels for energy i.e. for cars, homes or industry.
Neston Earth Group set up a group to look into solutions and they proposed that a community energy scheme might do the job, using the roofs of civic buildings to host small solar arrays to generate power for the building, for electric vehicle charging points and community benefit, should there be any surplus income from a scheme.
By the start of 2024 the group had begun to attract members with interests ranging from alternative energy generation to business development and climate change and they decided to hold a public meeting to propose setting up a community energy community benefit society.
With the support of Neston Community and Youth Centre, our first public meeting as Neston Community Energy was held in January 2024, attended by over 20 local residents where we presented lots of ideas from around the country for ways to generate energy within communities including sun, wind, water, geothermal, heat recovery etc. The outcome of the meeting was for the Neston Earth Group to establish a stand alone legal entity, Neston Community Energy (NCE) a Community Benefit Society (CBS), to take ideas forward for the purpose of bringing green community energy projects to the CH64 area.
The meeting, was also attended by CWaC officers and local Councillors. We were advised that the Council was already considering a solar scheme in the town on the Clayhill Industrial Park, but that this would need a full feasibility study. Clayhill was just one of a number of possible low carbon energy schemes identified by CWaC in their administrative area, but the Neston site was not considered a priority among these.
We consider the Clayhill site to offer a number of potential wins, with few downsides, but is an ambitious first project for a new Community Energy CBS.
- It offers the potential to produce low carbon energy for about 30 years from a site that has little or no other alternative uses or value.
- The site is very well screened from neighbouring properties so the development would have little visual impact for those living close to the site.
- Developing a solar park on this kind of site reduces the need to develop solar elsewhere on agricultural land.
- It has the potential to provide a modest profit over the long term that can be used for the benefit of the community in Neston
There are some challenges though with developing on a former landfill site. These are of a technical nature – the weight of any construction must be kept to a minimum, avoiding point loads that could compromise the clay cap that seals the old landfill. The design choices this dictates will add somewhat to the capital cost of developing the site, meaning other elements of the scheme and business case must be carefully optimised to make for a financially viable project. The medium size scale of the site also means the site will not benefit from the economies of scale that the larger schemes being developed on agricultural land can offer.
NCE decided they would adopt this project as potential ‘quick win’ (an optimistic notion for sure!) and set about applying for funding whilst also registering a business bank account and formally establishing NCE as a Community Benefit Society. We took advice from Co-op UK and established ourselves as a Community Benefit Society (CBS) – this is a specific type of co-op which can raise money from community share issues, return modest interest on investments and invest any surplus in the local community.
Having incorporated Neston Community Energy Limited as a Community Benefit Society in June 2024, it was then registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to authorise us to manage member and investor monies, if necessary and with Companies House. The Founder members then appointed the Directors. These Directors, all working on a voluntary basis, serve until the next NCE AGM.
We submitted an application to the Community Energy Fund (from the now named Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (or DESNZ). The application was handled by Lancashire County Council who administer the Community Energy Fund in the North West. We were informed in early October 2024 we had been successful in obtaining ₤37,825 for a full feasibility study for a solar park on the Clayhill landfill site.
The feasibility study was carried out by experienced specialist consultants Scene Connect Ltd . Work began at the end of October 24 and a detailed report was produced at the beginning of March 25. The study provided a full assessment that looked at environmental, technical, legal and financial aspects of the scheme‘s feasibility and findings were communicated at two public meetings and via social media and our website.
The conclusion of the Feasibility Study was that whilst the solar park was technically feasible, there isn’t currently a private customer available close to the site to purchase the electricity directly by ‘private wire’ and give the best financial return. The report concluded:
“Our recommendation is to progress the project further as a community-led venture, seeking to de-risk the project prospects by securing an option agreement with the landowner (CWaC Council), conduct a detailed system design, develop a business plan, and secure planning permission. This will ensure that the community is best placed to progress the scheme where a local customer is identified and / or preferential export rates are secured.”
The report findings were shared at a public meeting in March 25, where the general feeling was that there was widespread support for a Community Energy organisation in Neston. The potential for decreasing dependency on central supplies, raising income from projects to benefit the community and giving people a chance to do something to reduce carbon emissions has struck a chord with many local people.
In July we received confirmation that we are able to bid for further support (stage 2 funding) from the GB Energy Community Energy Fund to enable us to do more detailed business planning on the Clayhill scheme. We intend to explore all options for delivering the scheme including partnerships with other community energy companies, community shares and other energy sector providers/funders and explore a number of paths to secure preferential export rates for the energy generated. The technology in this sector, together with the policy and regulatory framework are all developing at pace and we intend to be open to taking advantage of changes that arise as we develop a business model for Clayhill.
In our first year we have received much appreciated support from our local councillors, Martin Barker, Louise Gittins and Keith Millar and officers from Cheshire West and Chester Council, in particular those with climate change and sustainability responsibilities.
We received a small grant from Cheshire West Voluntary Action to pay the registration fee with the Financial Conduct Authority and were also very grateful to receive a grant from Cheshire Community Foundation to support our volunteers in establishing essential administrative and legal compliance structures so that we can ensure we have a sound basis on which we can grow and be ready for new challenges and opportunities. We particularly hope to increase and broaden membership and make more use of social media to widen the reach of NCE.
As well as the task of project managing the Clayhill Feasibility Study, NCE has been working with local organisations and businesses to share information and support anyone wishing to explore ways to make use of green energy. Recently Neston Community Energy has been supporting Neston Community Youth Centre in looking at the potential of fitting solar PV at the centre as part of their planned roof renewal, and will be open to new ideas and opportunities as they arise to develop low carbon energy and explore ways to help others realise their own low carbon energy projects.
NCE has recently also submitted representations with regard to the energy implications of the Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan proposals, and this is something that will continue to be monitored as the Local Plan progresses through its next stages.
NCE has achieved much in its first year and with the support of its Members, local people, businesses and the network of organisations who have given so much encouragement along the way, we are confident that we can thrive in the year ahead.
If you think Community Energy in Neston is a worthwhile endeavour, do get in touch, become a member, bring your ideas, skills and enthusiasm, spread the word and help us to deliver more locally produced low carbon energy for Neston and play your part in combatting the climate crisis.
Neston Community Energy, September 2025
Robert Thrift
