Innovation Funding for a Rural Energy Network
When Mark founded Bloom Renewables, it was with the ambition to help communities in Devon decarbonise and become energy resilient. Indeed, a portion of the profits from the solar & battery installation business are reinvested into innovative clean energy projects. Earlier this year, Mark’s dedication to creating innovative approaches to renewable energy won him and his team UKRI innovation funding to pilot the UK’s first rural Virtual Power Plant (VPP).
What is a VPP?
In simple terms, the VPP will enable the localisation of energy supplies; farms that produce more clean energy than they need from solar, wind, anaerobic digestion (AD) or hydro will be able to sell their excess energy to other farms and rural businesses in the network. It should support a better energy price whether rural businesses are buying or selling, and avoid the recent energy price spikes created by the wholesale gas market.
The VPP, named the ‘Bloom Rural Energy Network’ uses blockchain technology to match generators and consumers in real-time, so participants can instantly trade surplus energy with others in the network, balancing their energy supply and demand dynamically with locally-generated green power. Farms often have large roof spaces and pockets of land that are ideal places to install clean energy generation equipment. As part of the pilot, Bloom Renewables will also be installing a trail solar fence that allows farmers to use land for both energy and food production.
Making the Pilot Possible
The Bloom Rural Energy Network pilot study has been made possible with the support of Mole Avon who agreed to install rooftop solar panels across their country stores in East Devon. The trial will be ongoing throughout the second half of 2024 and once completed, it’s hoped that the VPP can scale-up to include more farms and rural businesses based in Devon. If we can prove the VPP concept in our pilot study, we will be looking for more farms to add to the network and in particular, those that are looking for a better price for their clean energy generation. For many rural businesses the ‘Bloom Rural Energy Network has the potential to be a real gamechanger.
If you’d like to find out more about Bloom Rural Energy Network, or are a farm or rural business wishing to participate, please contact Rebecca@bloomrenewables.co.uk.
