Bottom line: YCE will be seeking a grant from Great British Energy to look at the feasibility of generating and supplying electricity locally. Nothing is going to be built any time soon. This explainer gives some background; after reading it tell us what you think in this simple poll https://forms.gle/6Vr7pPVLvkNeRcS76 (active link should be at the bottom of the text).
The National Grid was created by an Act of Parliament in 1926 and completed in 1933 – ahead of schedule and on budget. Its completion was followed by the fastest uptake of electricity in the world – from 250,000 users in 1920 to 9 million in 1938. Electricity from South Wales kept London lit and working when Battersea and Fulham stations were not working due to bomb damage.
It is different today. We have moved from few large generators to many (often small) generators. Much consumption is distant from generation, so when London would like to obtain power from Scottish windfarms it can’t get it – because the amount of power needed to be transferred would melt key transmission stations along the way.
The UK now generates less electricity per person since 1968 (about 4,200 kWh), but it also imports up to 20% of its electricity needs from France, Norway, and Holland. That’s good and bad: good because much of the import is of low carbon electricity, but bad because the provision of this electricity is not under UK control and the importation transmission lines (including undersea cables) are an obvious security risk.
The grid is not free: over a quarter (27.5%) of a domestic electricity bill pays for the grid and electricity transmission – only slightly less than the wholesale cost of electricity at 28.7%. For comparison, profit comes in at 2.5%. But energy produced and used locally, off grid, does not have those charges
Yealm Community Energy’s solar farms currently pump the 13 million kWh it produces annually into the grid at 33kV – it’s one of those modest generators. What might it do to use electricity locally, not using the grid, and help relieve the pressure?
We start by acknowledging there are things we don’t know, but for which it should be possible to get answers. Which is why YCE is preparing an application for a Stage 1 Feasibility Grant (up to £40,000) from the Great British Energy Community Fund to establish whether co-located wind generation and battery storage is an option for our Newton Downs solar farm site, and whether electricity generated could be sold locally.
The grant is to provide technical, legal, and financial analyses for the following distinct but linked aims.
● Co-Located Wind Generation: Only a relatively small (250 kW) turbine would likely be allowed; supply of these is limited, cost-effectiveness is not a given and getting large turbine blades down narrow Devon lanes can be next to impossible.
● Virtual Energy Local Market Scheme: A smaller turbine could feed the local low-tension network (11,000 volt) so that locally generated electricity could be sold to local consumers.
● Battery Energy Storage System (BESS): Batteries allow wind and/or solar power generated during times of low demand to be released during times of high consumption (and substantially higher prices). While there are many constraints, there may also be ways of using that stored power for local consumption.
There are lots of ifs. If a stage 1 grant application succeeded and had a positive outcome, the next stage would be a Stage 2 Development grant up to £100,000 to turn a feasible clean energy idea into an investment-ready scheme. A construction-ready, community-owned clean energy project might then attract a £3 million Stage 3 grant to bridge remaining financial gaps and begin building.
https://forms.gle/6Vr7pPVLvkNeRcS76
October 18, 2026
