Cornwall Council's story
In 2020, Cornwall Council was successful in securing a Getting Building Fund grant from the UK Government and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP. This funding has enabled a pilot project aimed at decarbonising the Council's social housing stock and protecting jobs as part of the pandemic recovery effort.
The initiative will help to accelerate the Council's Cornwall-wide programme to retrofit social housing with renewable energy technology, supporting clean growth and addressing fuel poverty and the climate emergency. Solar PV is at the heart of this Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator scheme. The scheme aims to deploy solar PV on 600 social housing properties in Cornwall to generate renewable energy, improve the energy efficiency of homes, reduce tenant energy costs, and support local supply chains.
Useful learnings from Cornwall Council
Partners:
Cornwall Council benefited from support from the South West Net Zero Hub in the following areas: writing funding bid; establishing solar PV installer framework; creating technical specification; selecting properties; engaging stakeholders; evaluating supplier bids for the project call-offs; and ad-hoc technical support.
The South West Net Zero Hub is currently working with Cornwall Council to research viable ways to develop solar PV on social housing without grant funding.
Funding:
The scheme benefited from a blend of 67% UK Government funding (Getting Building Fund) and 33% Cornwall Council match. The solar PV systems will be owned by Cornwall Council and operated/ maintained by Cornwall Housing Limited – the arm's length management organisation responsible for the Council's housing stock.
Cornwall Council's metrics
Renewable energy generated
Carbon emissions saved
Number of homes retrofitted with measures
