BISHOP’S CASTLE COMMUNITY WIND ENERGY PROJECT
Public Meeting, 10th September 2025
The Twist Turbine
As you may have heard, the Community Heat & Wind Network project received planning permission in June for a 900kW turbine to be installed at the site west of the Conery just off the B4385 to Lydbury North. Many thanks to all who helped us get the planning permission, including Councillor Ruth Houghton and the BC Town Council. Planning rules mean we now have 3 years to begin the installation work.
The turbine should produce around 2,200 MWh of electricity per year (this is the typical electricity use of 700 homes), and over its 30-yr life will be a very cost-effective source of electricity generation. It will be called the ‘Twist’ turbine in memory of Dennis Twist and his long involvement with environmental activities in Bishop’s Castle and Clun.
That’s the good news. However, recent developments in politics, energy markets, and local user needs have impacted the economics of the other half of the project: the Heat Network, which is the piped-heat-delivery system. These include:-
- Oil price stagnation, putting a cap on the price we could charge for heat.
- Halving of the Green Heat Network Funding.
- Substantial increase in build costs, e.g installing the network’s pipes (c.£4-5M).
- The grant received by SpArC for an air-source heat pump removes a key customer for the heat and potential site for the Energy Centre.
Coming at the end of 4 years during which a great deal of work has been invested in the project, these factors are very disappointing, since they mean that the heat network part of the business case is not viable at the moment. This decision has not been taken lightly, and we will be monitoring the situation to see if and when the circumstances change and make the network viable again.
Nevertheless, we still have the opportunity to go ahead with the Wind Turbine! This is a significant achievement since it is the only community-owned wind turbine to get planning permission in England in the last year. The turbine will be an important Community asset and help with local and national energy resilience, and that is where the team will be focussing their energy for the next few years.
The project’s next steps will be to explore options for supplying electricity to homes and businesses, raise the capital required and continue the process of getting connection to the grid.
For further details contact Dave Green dave@sharenergy.coop or climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org
DECARBONISED HEAT: A NEGLECTED CHALLENGE IN THE TRANSITION TO GREEN ENERGY
Bishop’s Castle has been pioneering an innovative Community Energy Project for the last four years, in partnership with Shropshire and Telford Community Energy (STCE) and Sharenergy. The team has recently achieved the major milestone of getting planning permission for a wind turbine. The project is also evolving to meet changing conditions in the energy market. STCE’s project lead, Dave Green, explains about the new direction.
We probably all know the main reason for wanting to transition to “green” (renewable) energy: to reduce CO2 emissions and so slow down damaging man-made climate change. With the electricity supply this transition has been low-effort for households: we use what comes into our homes along the mains wires, and leave it to the electricity generators to make the electricity from renewable sources. Using wind turbines and solar farms, generators have been quite good at this, so that over 50% of the electricity we use in the UK is now “green”.
For household heating this is more difficult. We don’t get heat piped directly to our houses, instead we have to create it in the home: by burning gas, wood, or oil: none of these are renewable and all generate CO2. To go green on heat we have to go to the cost and effort of changing our heating system to a heat pump. A heat pump uses electricity in a cost-efficient way by using one unit of electricity to create around 3 units of heat, sucking in heat from the outside air or ground. But it still takes money and effort from householders to make this change for heat.
The idea behind the Bishop’s Castle Community project had been to make the heat transition easier for the community by piping green heat directly into homes.
A wind turbine near town will generate 100% green electricity, to be used to power a very large centralised heat pump, and carry this heat through town to houses in the form of hot water in specially-laid underground pipes. This heat distribution is called a Community Heat Network. The network and the turbine can in part be community-owned, creating a community asset as well as supplying low-cost green heat to the community.
That’s the idea. Unfortunately the Bishop’s Castle project team has recently found that their heat network is currently too expensive to build. Government policy, funding, and contractor costs are not yet fully aligned behind making Heat Networks financially possible. To transition to green heat, a lot of factors and attitudes need to shift, and these shifts have not yet been “joined up” enough by the Government to help most communities achieve it. It will probably take a few more years before that happens: until then the town’s heat network plans are on hold. So the Bishop’s Castle team is changing its focus in the short-term to the turbine half of the project. In June they successfully gained planning approval for a 900 kW turbine to be sited on a hill near town, thanks to widespread support from the community as well as the town and county councils. The turbine should produce the electricity typically used by up to 700 homes. Over its 30-year life it will be a very cost-effective source of green electricity. The team will now be building the business case to attract funding for the turbine, and exploring how to connect local customers to the turbine’s output, but it will also be hoping that future Government policy changes enable the delivery of of decarbonised Heat in rural, off-gas-grid towns as effectively as decarbonised electricity.
For further details contact Dave Green dave@sharenergy.coop or climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org
Background reading
Centre for Sustainable Energy’s submission to the Government on Community Energy can be downloaded here. . .
Unlocking Community Energy at Scale – Centre for Sustainable Energy
Bristol Community Heat Network
Based on heat drawn from water, this is an interesting insight into the effectiveness of Community Heat Networks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXmfqZP4bA
Onshore Renewable Energy: Common Myths
Myths and misconceptions about renewables can create unnecessary obstacles to the UK’s clean energy transition, fuelling uncertainty and public concern.
Developed with the Parliamentary Renewable & Sustainable Energy Group, this easy-to-read guide delves into the myths surrounding renewable energy technologies including solar, wind, battery storage, heat and grid infrastructure, and provides evidence-based responses. It addresses a wide range of common concerns, including costs, land use, noise, safety and the reliability of renewable energy sources.
Bishop’s Castle carbon footprint: why we need this project
The average Carbon Footprint per household in Bishop’s Castle is about 9% higher than the national average. However, other markers: Consumption, Food and Waste are considerably lower. The stand-out difference is seen in the graph at the link below where energy use in Bishop’s Castle’s homes is 45% higher than the national average. The reason for this is that Bishop’s Castle is not on the Gas Grid and the majority of homes have to use oil, wood and even coal for their heating and hot water. Combined with this is the fact that the Town has many old and hard-to-heat homes that are not suitable for Heat Pumps. This project is the best way to enable more affordable and sustainable energy for Bishop’s Castle.
Impact | Community carbon calculator (impact-tool.org.uk)
What’s it all about?
June 24 update on the Community Heat & Wind Network
If you want to help out, or have any queries, please e-mail us at climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org.uk
How do Heat Pumps works
Here’s a useful article from the Guardian which explains how they work How a Heat pump works
The 2023 Feasibility Study can be downloaded here BC Heat Feasibility Study v7c 23.3.23
The results of the survey can be seen here BC heat & Wind, Details of 122 survey responses
The full Report can be seen here 1_H&W Planning submission v2b 8.10.21
If you are interested in helping with this project, or want more information, please e-mail <climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org>
You can see the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ here BC Heat & Wind Initiative FAQs 2023 v4
