Renewable Energy (Environment, State of the South West 2011)

7.15.1 The number of renewable energy installations increased massively in 2009/10; 415 renewable electricity projects were installed and 847 new renewable heat projects. Combined this brings the region's renewable energy capacity to 240 MW. Regen SW’s 2010 survey identified 891 renewable electricity projects with a capacity of 171.59MW and 2842 renewable heat projects with a capacity of 68.06MW. The following statistics are drawn from Regen SW’s 2010 survey.

7.15.2 Despite some encouraging trends, with these figures the region will struggle to meet the renewable energy target of generating 15% of its energy use from renewable sources by 2020. Regen SW Road to 2020 report estimates the South West needs to install over 7,000 MW to reach this target.The region only generates 3% of its energy from renewable sources at present.

7.15.3 Total installed renewable electricity capacity recorded in the region, is now 171.59 MW, an increase of 4.5% (7.78MW), since 2008/09. This increase is comparatively low, despite 415 new projects installed in 2009/10. There is still a lack of large-scale schemes being built during this time.

7.15.4 Nevertheless, renewable electricity schemes in the region are now producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of 179,500 homes, avoiding the production of 477,640 tonnes of CO2 a year.

7.15.5 The largest contributor to the increase in capacity came from the commissioning of 2 new landfill gas plants with capacities of 4MW and 1.12 MW. The largest gain to the number of projects came from 355 solar PV installations.

7.15.6 A significant amount of approved capacity of 182.80 MW of onshore wind is waiting to be built. A decision is also pending regarding another 48 MW from Davidstow wind farm, in Cornwall.

7.15.7 Cornwall was once again the leading county in the region in terms of installed capacity, with 58.13 MW or around 34% of the region’s total. Devon stayed in second place, with around 20%, recording the most new installations (88).

Table 7.15.1 Renewable electricity projects in the South West 2008/9

County	Number of projects	Wind	Hydro	Landfill gas	Sewage gas	Advanced treatment of waste	Solar PV	Installed renewable capacity (MW)	% of regional total by county are
Former Avon	96	6.05	0.01	5.45	5.75	0.23	0.24	17.72	10.3
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly	182	43.72	1.59	11.94	0.50	0	0.39	58.13	33.9
Devon	241	3.40	6.81	20.31	1.23	2.70	0.63	35.08	20.4
Dorset	112	0.18	0.01	14.32	2.30	0.85	0.24	17.89	10.4
Gloucestershire	90	0.55	0.04	12.78	1.12	0.30	0.41	15.28	8.9
Somerset	107	1.87	0.47	8.77	0.17	0.65	0.25	12.18	7.1
Wiltshire	63	0.02	0.08	14.37	0.62	0	0.22	15.30	8.9
Total	-	55.79	9.00	87.93	11.77	4.72	2.38	171.59	100
% of total capacity		32.5	5.2	51.2	6.9	2.8	1.4	100	-
Number of Projects	891	192	67	36	19	6	571	-	-
Source: Regen SW

7.15.8 847 new renewable heat projects were installed in 2009/10, bringing the total capacity to 68.06 MW; a net increase of 13.47 MW. Much of this increase (68%) is due to new biomass projects; 57% of all renewable heat capacity comes from biomass installations.

7.15.9 Devon is leading the county, with almost 26% of the region’s installed renewable heat capacity and the greatest number of projects. Cornwall came a close second with 22%.

7.15.10 Wiltshire has the lowest installed capacity of renewable heat at 2.69 MW. However, this represents the greatest percentage increase in heat capacity in 2009/10.

Table 7.15.2 Renewable heat projects in the South West 2008/9

County	Number of projects	Advanced treatment of waste	Biomass thermal	Heat pumps	Sewage gas CHP	Solar thermal	Installed renewable heat capacity (MW)	% of regional total by county
Former Avon	198	0	6.13	0.34	7	0.83	14.31	21.0
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	618	0	8.19	4.76	0.79	1.29	15.19	22.3
Devon	1127	0	11.36	1.85	2.21	2.12	17.54	25.8
Dorset	183	0.02	3.94	0.39	1.10	0.37	5.82	8.6
Gloucestershire	294	0.34	3.86	2.75	0	0.56	7.52	11.0
Somerset	255	0	3.79	0.47	0.2	0.53	4.99	7.3
Wiltshire	167	0	1.6	0.47	0.2	0.42	2.69	4.0
Totals	-	0.36	38.88	11.02	11.67	6.14	68.06	100
% of total capacity		0.5	57.1	16.2	17.1	9.0	100.0	-
Number of Projects	2842	2	352	504	14	1970	-	-
Source: Regen SW

7.15.11 Full analysis of renewable energy in the South West is available on the Regen SW website.