The Working Group for Chipping Community Energy hosted an open day and presentation on Thursday the 29^th September at the Chipping and District Memorial Hall. The purpose of the event was to provide further information, and answer questions about, the proposed Chipping Community Energy project.

The event was well attended with approximately 40 members of the local community keen to find out more about the project.

The Working Group was supported by Kate Gilmartin of the North West Net Zero Hub and Derek Mitchell from Prospus Group who provided an update presentation on the project. The session provided valuable information about how heat pumps and shared ambient loop energy networks work.

Iain Carr from Kensa Contracting also attended the event to show members of the community what a ground source heat pump looked like. He talked about heat pumps, shared ambient loop networks, and similar projects being developed across the UK.

Following the presentation and talks, members of the community were able to ask questions about the proposed Chipping Community Energy Project.

Derek Mitchell, Director of Prospus Group said:

“It was great to see so many people interested in the proposed scheme and keen to find out how their home could make the transition away from fossil fuel based heat systems.”

Paul Hunt, local resident and member of the Working Group said:

“It was brilliant to see the level of interest in the Chipping Community Energy project from local residents but also from wider stakeholders including Lancashire County Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council. The presentation from Iain Carr of Kensa gave confidence that the technology is tried, tested and ready to go.”

The event was also attended by Councillor Simon Hore of Ribble Valley Borough Council, who said:

“We have received a very encouraging response on the low carbon energy project from the residents of Chipping and Leagram. In addition to the website, the open day provided more information to a small community that is off the Gas Grid, primarily relying on oil or electricity for heating. As we have seen in the past with introduction of broadband across the country, rural areas were the last to be considered and so a community scheme has provided that highly valued service. With the continued support of residents, we are now looking to see what options there are for our rural area in an effort to move to a more sustainable energy supply.”

To date 75 households have expressed an interest in joining the proposed community energy network in Chipping. If you wish to express your interest, please click here.