£300k community energy fund approved to support journey to net zero
Cllr Mete Coban and Mayor Philip Glanville with students from Cardinal Pole School (credit Gary Manhine and Hackney Council)
A new fund for community organisations to work with the Council to launch energy efficiency schemes, like solar panels, heat pumps and insulation, was approved at a council meeting earlier this month.
As part of the Council’s plan to tackle the climate crisis, the programme will be managed by Hackney Light and Power, its energy services arm.
It will work with the community energy movement, schools, faith organisations, cooperatives, activists, nurseries and encourage other community groups to bid for projects that help reduce organisations’ impact on the environment and support them with rising energy costs.
The scheme will look to replicate the success of a project at Stoke Newington School, which now generates electricity from solar panels on its roof, after community group Stokey Energy was awarded £19,000 from the Mayor of London’s London Community Energy Fund, which is also working with the Rio Cinema and Mildmay Club.
Alongside its own community energy fund, Hackney Light and Power is running a programme to install energy efficiency measures on the Council’s own buildings and its own Green Homes Programme, supporting over 100 households across Hackney to install insulation, solar panels and heat pumps. A further £200k for the Green Homes Programme has also been approved by the Council.