ANNUAL PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
Here is a summary which provides insight into the environmental and financial performance of our investments over the 2018/19 financial year.
2018/19 was another year of growth, with 4GWH of green electricity generated, 40% up on the previous year. This is due to three key factors: the commissioning of Sandford Hydro, which contributed a quarter of our total clean green electricity production. Solar generation was also up, boosted by new installations and a particularly sunny summer. We installed two new solar PV arrays on school hosts and completed the formal transfer of assets from Oxford North Community Renewables (ONCORE).
June 2018 saw ONCORE’s investors formally join us as well as the launch of the Community Energy Fund , which attracted significant support from new investors. A very warm welcome to all our new Members. Investment in the organisation rose following the launch of the Community Energy Fund, attracting support from new and existing investors. With the investment raised we have funded new solar installations and paid back our entire outstanding short-term loan from Oxford City Council. As a result, our Solar 2016 portfolio is now entirely funded by community investment.
With record generation, comes record community benefit. £141,000 was donated by the IPS to support further carbon cutting activity. This has enabled the Low Carbon Hub CIC to make significant strides in developing the ‘powering down’ element of our work with schools and organisations. Our community benefit donation has also enabled us to leverage other forms of support, which we report on for the first time in this summary.