Welcome to the Southport Community Energy Website.
A Southport community energy study was carried out in 2021. This concentrated on replacing the existing 20kW wind turbine at the Eco Centre. The proposed replacement would be a significantly larger, 1MW turbine connected to the Dunes/Splashworld leisure centre. This turbine would generate over 2.5 million kWh of electricity and save Sefton Council at least £40,000 per year. The cheaper electricity from the turbine would also improve the business case for fitting heat pumps and/or electric vehicle charging to the leisure centre. The scheme would save at least 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and provide a substantial community benefit fund.
There will be a public exhibition of the proposal at The Atkinson, Lord St, Southport, PR8 1DB
on Wednesday 28th June from 12 noon to 8pm All welcome.
Advisors from Locogen (our planning consultants) and Sharenergy (community energy experts) will be on hand to answer your questions.
The turbine will be owned and run by Southport Community Energy (SCE), a registered society – no 8918. Capital funding will mostly come through a share offer, the shareholders will become members of SCE.
The Sefton Borough Council pre-planning report says the scheme is acceptable in principle, but various studies would have to be undertaken before a full planning application can be made. These include bird surveys and consideration of noise, flicker and heritage.
Ed Gommon of Zero Carbon Liverpool City Region says that “we are excited to see the potential of this scheme. The current turbine is not working and is a poor advert for the Eco Centre, the replacement turbine would make a significant positive impact on Southport”
The Southport wind project is currently in abeyance as Sefton Borough Council are considering other options for the site.