The South West Net Zero Hub’s Project Development Team have supported five innovative new clean energy projects to get started in the region.
Our Project Managers have worked with the local authorities involved, providing fully funded support and technical expertise to the following projects:
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council – Rooftop solar PV pipeline development
The Hub is supporting Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council to develop a structured pipeline of rooftop solar PV projects across its estate.
BCP’s Local Area Energy Plan identifies rooftop solar PV as a key opportunity, with a target to deliver more than 100 Council rooftop PV installations by 2030.
The Council has already undertaken initial work to identify around 130 potential rooftop PV opportunities, but further specialist support is needed to validate the evidence base, prioritise sites and identify the most appropriate delivery routes.
The Hub is funding a project to help BCP move from a longlist of opportunities towards a clearer, deliverable rooftop PV programme. The work will assess the identified sites against technical, financial, commercial and practical criteria, including roof suitability, energy demand, self-consumption potential, grid considerations, costs, carbon savings and deliverability.
The project will also develop outline business case packs and route-to-installation plans for agreed priority sites or packages. This will help BCP understand which projects are best placed to move forward, what further work is required, and how delivery could be progressed through Council investment, portfolio procurement, community energy, third-party investment, partnership delivery or future Great British Energy routes.
The project will go out for procurement shortly, with the aim of providing BCP with a practical roadmap for progressing its rooftop PV programme towards delivery.
Climate Leadership Gloucestershire – Using public land to kick-start wider renewable energy delivery
The Hub is supporting Gloucestershire to develop a county-wide pipeline of potential renewable energy projects on publicly owned land. The project is being developed with Climate Leadership Gloucestershire (CLG), which brings together local authorities and wider public sector partners across the county to coordinate strategic climate action.
The project’s ambition goes beyond identifying sites: CLG wants to explore how public land can help kick-start wider renewable energy delivery – both through projects on the public estate and by demonstrating different approaches that could be replicated elsewhere, including community energy, public-sector-led, and joint venture models.
The assessment will consider the feasibility of opportunities across a range of renewable technologies, including what would be required to progress them towards delivery. A selection of opportunities will be assessed in more detail, with the findings developed into case studies that provide practical insight into different technologies, delivery models and the barriers and opportunities involved.
The project has been scoped with support from the Hub to complement Gloucestershire’s wider Local Area Energy Planning and community energy activity, with the aim of building both a pipeline of projects and the capacity to deliver them. Gloucestershire County Council’s recent motions supporting publicly and community-owned renewable energy also provide a clear local policy driver for the work.
Gloucestershire County Council – Pathways to Net Zero commission
Gloucestershire has begun work with City Science to develop detailed energy pathway modelling and a new interactive visualisation platform for the county. The seven-month project is due to be completed by February 2027, and builds on the early-stage local energy planning work led by the South West Net Zero Hub last year in collaboration with Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire councils.
The new commission will draw on the baseline information from the previous phase and undertake detailed modelling to develop energy pathways to 2050, showing how Gloucestershire’s energy system could transition to net zero. City Science will use Cadence to create an interactive way to explore Gloucestershire’s future energy system spatially, bringing the modelling and project data together in an accessible format.
The project will also provide transferable outputs to support future work with Distribution Network Operators and the emerging Regional Energy Strategic Planning (RESP) process, alongside a pipeline of potential low-carbon projects.
The South West Net Zero Hub will continue to support Gloucestershire throughout the project, drawing on its experience of Local Area Energy Planning elsewhere in the region. The Hub will provide additional capacity and an independent perspective to support the council team, while helping to connect this work with related studies and activity taking place across Gloucestershire.
Havant Borough Council and Havant Community Energy – Broadmarsh Solar Park
The Hub is supporting Havant Borough Council and Havant Community Energy to progress early-stage plans for a community-led solar park at Broadmarsh, a former coastal landfill site in Havant.
Initial work by Havant Community Energy has identified potential for a ground-mounted solar PV scheme of around 1.5MW, with possible expansion up to 2.6–2.7MW subject to site constraints, planning, grid connection and commercial viability.
The Hub has approved £85,000 to fund the next stage of project development. This work will review the pre-feasibility studies already undertaken, assess the technical suitability of the former landfill site, progress planning and ecological appraisal, develop an outline site and system design, and refine the financial model and business case.
The study will also look at how the electricity generated could be used most effectively, including options for grid export, private wire, local offtake, sleeving, battery storage and virtual PPA arrangements. Legal support will also be included to help Havant Community Energy and Havant Borough Council progress towards Heads of Terms for land access, lease structure and delivery responsibilities.
The project will go out to procurement shortly. Once appointed, the consultant team will help the Council and Havant Community Energy understand whether the project can move towards planning, funding and delivery, while also creating learning for other local authorities and community energy groups considering renewable energy on former landfill sites.
Isle of Wight – Pipeline development and grid engagement
The Hub is supporting Isle of Wight Council to explore opportunities to unlock renewable energy development in the face of significant local grid constraints.
Hub funding will support the development of a prioritised pipeline of renewable energy opportunities across council-owned land and assets, identifying potential generation capacity, likely grid connection locations and key development constraints.
The outputs of this project will provide the evidence base for further work exploring how grid constraints on the island could be addressed. This will include engagement with a range of network stakeholders to explore potential technical and commercial options for accommodating future renewable generation.
The work will help the Council better understand its renewable energy potential, inform future investment and project development, and strengthen its position in strategic discussions about the island’s electricity network.
Our Project Development Team work directly with local authorities and other public sector bodies, providing fully funded support to help with scoping, project design, and unlocking the finance to progress projects.
If you work in the public sector and need help or guidance with a renewable energy generation project contact the Hub and one of our project managers will be in touch.