28th of September, 2021
We are delighted to announce that Finderne Development Trust has received an enablement grant from the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) * to contract with Locogen, a renewable energy consultancy company, to carry out a comparative evaluation of the various renewable energy options available in the vicinity of Rafford Village Hall.
This enablement project is part of FDT’s much larger project to develop community-led affordable housing in Brockloch, Rafford. The outcome of this enablement project will steer the development of appropriate renewable energy and energy efficient factors in the final design of the 12-unit affordable housing proposal at Brockloch.
The renewable options to be considered by Locogen include ground sourced energy from vertical boreholes in the development site itself or via a horizontal heat collection matrix from the recreation ground adjacent to Rafford Village Hall, and air source heat pumps.
During FDT’s initial community consultation in 2018 affordable housing was identified as being key in growing a vibrant, sustainable, and balanced community. FDT anticipates that the provision of community led affordable housing in Finderne will make a significant contribution to the community’s ability to attract and retain the economically and socially active families needed to support local services and businesses, and thereby act as a catalyst for rural regeneration within Finderne.
* “The Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES)was established by the Scottish Government to encourage local and community ownership of renewable energy across Scotland and to help maximise the benefits to communities of renewable energy systems – whether commercial or community-owned.
CARES aims to accelerate progress towards the Scottish Government’s target of 2GW of renewable energy to be locally or community owned by 2030, and to assist with delivering the Scottish Government’s Energy Strategy through the provision of loan finance, grant funding and specialist advice. CARES is managed by Local Energy Scotland, a consortium made up of Energy Saving Trust, Changeworks, The Energy Agency, SCARF and The Wise Group, with support for delivery from Ricardo Energy & Environment and QMPF. For more information, visit www.localenergy.scot
