Swaffham Prior is leading the way with its community project to bring renewable energy to hundreds of homes across the village. The community scheme, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council has been funded by the Renewable Heat Incentive and I have been pleased to support it.
The project received £3.3 million of Government funding for heat network projects following a meeting I arranged with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in November 2020. During this meeting, the local team highlighted the merits of the project to the community and the environment. I also wrote to Lord Callanan earlier this year to ask him to allow Cambridgeshire County Council further time to use the funding received after the pandemic caused delays to commissioning deadlines. I am pleased an extension of 12 months was granted to allow the project to commission in time to receive Renewable Heat Incentive support.
As part of the project, heat will be collected in a series of underground cables to provide a renewable electricity source.
I recently visited the site with Lord Callanan, and we were joined by Thomas Allard, Clean Heat team, Lauren Bright, Triple Point, Maggie Pratt, Programme Manager in the Climate Change and Energy Team at Cambridgeshire County Council, Sheryl French, Cambridgeshire County Council and Emma Fletcher, constituent pioneer to discuss the scheme and receive an update on its progress.
132 houses in the local community have signed up for the scheme, and there is interest from other local businesses.
