SOLAR PROJECTS GET GOVERNMENT BACKING

11 Oct 2004 11:15 AM

Edinburgh Prison and the National Wildlife Centre in Liverpool among those to receive funding for innovative solar power projects

New solar power projects across the UK are to receive Government funding, Energy Minister, Mike O'Brien announced today.

Seventeen projects were chosen for funding worth 1.4 million, out of total Government funding of 40 million for solar.

Schools, community centres and businesses are among those who will benefit from this funding round. It will also result in the first installation of Photovoltaic technology at a UK prison site. This funding round supports medium to high (5-100kWp) scale solar electric power installations under the Government's Major Photovoltaics (PV) Demonstration Programme.

Mike O'Brien said:

"Solar power is one of the renewable energy sources of the future. This latest round of successful applications is proof of its growing appeal throughout the country. The growth and development of the solar power industry will help take us a step closer to achieving our renewable energy target of 10% of electricity by 2010, and into the decades beyond.

"The ultimate potential that solar offers, even in our climate, is substantial. It is therefore important to maintain a position whereby the UK can take advantage of the technology as the market develops. To that end, the Government has committed over 40 million to supporting solar projects throughout the UK."

Notes for editors

1. Kilowatt peak (kWp) is the maximum power output on a sunny day. Under UK conditions 1kWp of PV cells could be expected to produce around 750 kW hours of electricity in a year. The average household uses 3,000-3,500 kW hours. Thus a 2kWp system might meet about half of a household's demand.

2. Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, announced the 20m First Phase of the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme (MDP) on 26 March 2002. Prior to that the Government had supported the Domestic and Large-Scale PV Field Trials, providing 4.7m to develop 500 solar powered homes and a further 4.2m for 12 solar powered public buildings. The first round of funding under the 20m programme supported 8 projects (Press release 01/08/2002), 19 were approved in the second round (27/11/2002), 18 projects supported in the third round (10/03/2003), 21 in the fourth round (10/6/03), 12 in the fifth round (22/09/03), 16 in the sixth round (12/12/03),16 in the seventh round (18/03/04) and 24 in the eighth. On February 12 2004 the Government announced a further 5 million funding for the PV MDP, taking the total budget to 25 million, which should enable 2-3 extra rounds to be run in 2004/05. On 15 September, a further 6m was announced to enable the Programme to run for a further year to March 2006.

3. The 17 successful projects announced today are:

* Shields Environmental Ltd, Purfleet, Essex
* Lowry Renaissance Limited, Linthwaite, West Yorkshire
* Preston Road Village Centre, Hull, Yorkshire and Humberside * Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Fernside Avenue, Huddersfield * Manor and Castle Development Trust, The Quadrant, Parkway Commercial Estate, Sheffield
* Elephant & Castle Regeneration Partnership, Richmond House, Southwark, London
* Dunbar Community Development Company, Dunbar, East Lothian * Scottish Prison Service, Edinburgh, Scotland
* Ministry of Defence, Faslane Supermess Building, Faslane, Scotland * Landlife, National Wildflower Centre, Court Hey Park, Liverpool * Levenshulme High School, Levenshulme, Manchester
* Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd, Rochdale, Greater Manchester * Kensington Academy Trust, Liverpool
* Infinity Foods, Brighton, East Sussex
* The Environment Agency Thames Region HQ, Reading
* University of Wales, Bangor, Wales
* Western Education & Library Board, Lisneal College, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

4. Further information about the Major PV Demonstration Programme can be found at www.solarpvgrants.co.uk or on 0800 298 3978.

5. The Energy White Paper - Our energy future - creating a low carbon economy -published in February 2003, increased funding for renewable energy projects to 350 million over four years. Copies of the White Paper can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/index.shtml

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