North Kensington
Community Energy
Community Energy
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The NKCE story so far …
North Kensington Community Energy (NKCE) was born in 2018, with the aim of making Kensington & Chelsea a greener and fairer borough by installing community-owned solar panels.
- In March 2019, it installed 86 kWp of solar panels on Avondale Park Primary School, Thomas Jones Primary School and the Dalgarno Trust community centre, enough coverage to power 30 London homes.
- We raised £83,000 from the community to purchase and install the panels and also received support from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council and the Mayor of London.
- The panels are now generating clean electricity sold at a discounted rate to the sites. Click here to read more about this.
- In October 2020, we completed our fourth array by installing 138 kWp on the Westway Sports Centre. We raised a total of £107,000 through a second community share offer that attracted more than 100 investors. The project will save 28 tonnes of CO2 every year, create a Community Fund of more than £42,000 and generate an estimated 3% annual return for its investors.
- The project on the Westway Sports Centre will also increase the NKCE Community Fund to £70,000!
- We’ve hosted Repowering London’s Youth Training Programme in 2018 and held the borough’s first Greener Living Day in 2020. We’ve held assemblies at local primary schools, and taught people how to build solar panels. To learn more about these initiatives, click here.
NKCE supporters and solar panels at the Dalgarno Community Centre in May 2019
Want to learn more?
Click the button below to learn more about our activities, events and voluntary Directors, and to see more photos showing what we have achieved.
Awards and recognition
We’re proud to say our work has been recognised nationwide. We were awarded the Community Renewable Energy Project Award in 2019 and the Climate Coalition’s Inspirational Community Project award in 2020.
The Westway Sports Centre share offer was awarded the Community Shares Standard Mark, demonstrating that we are meeting the national standards for good practice. The Standard Mark is overseen by the Community Shares Unit, part of Co-operatives UK, the national body supporting Community Benefit Societies and co-operatives in the UK. We have also been awarded match funding from the Community Shares Booster programme, funded by Power to Change.
NKCE volunteers on the roof of the Westway Sports Centre
How NKCE helps the community
COMMUNITY FUND
£70,000 is being raised for use in the local area over the life of the project.
CHEAP & CLEAN POWER
224 kWp of solar capacity was installed, enough to power 44 homes.
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
We funded 16 Youth Trainees who are passionate about renewable energy and climate change mitigation.
ETHICAL INVESTMENT
Anyone can invest for a social return – to bring about positive social and environmental change.
FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE
By reducing 46 tonnes of CO2 annually. The equivalent of nearly 3,000 trees.
TACKLING FUEL POVERTY
By promoting energy efficiency and low-cost cooking, and increased awareness of consumer rights and protections.
COMMUNITY COHESION
Supports local projects and builds links with residents and local groups.
How NKCE works
NKCE is a Community Benefit Society, a legal entity whose statutory purpose is to serve the broader interests of the community. This means that any proceeds from the project are locked into the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and delivered to local residents.
- Local residents aged 16 or over, businesses, councils and others can invest in the Society by purchasing shares. Shareholders automatically become members. You can invest from as little as £100 (specific concessions £50).
- To ensure no one is left out, residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea can also become a non-investor member for £1. You’ll have the same say in how the project is run as any investor. Contact our Community Champion Nasri Ismael if you’d like to a non-investor member.
- The Society is run by members and a board of directors who come from the local community. Governance of the Society is truly democratic because each member has one vote, no matter whether or how much they invest.
- The Society uses the funds raised from shares to buy and install the solar panels. The project earns an income by selling the electricity produced through them.
- Shareholders receive an estimated return on their investment of around 3% pa over the lifetime of the project and get their initial stake back.
- After core costs and investor returns have been paid out, any remaining income is spent within the community.
Interested in investing?
We are not currently accepting investments in North Kensington Community Energy but click the button below to be the first to hear of new share offers.
Governance
NKCE currently has 5 voluntary directors. Their role is to ensure the Community Benefit Society is running well and to support its development. Volunteers and directors hold regular meetings to develop NKCE. We have defined a set of values to make decisions and work together effectively:
- Be positive
- Be respectful
- Speak succinctly and let everyone have their say
- Agree by consensus
- Be responsible for actions you agreed to undertake and be honest if you find you can’t fulfil them or need to ask for help
- Listen to hear
You can find our more about each of our directors by clicking on their picture, below.
