Key piece of infrastructure to support community energy market growth in the coming years
March 4th, 2019: Seven community-owned energy companies have created a specialist community energy asset manager with a focus on distributing profits to local communities.
Bright Renewables, a newly formed community-owned business, has acquired the asset management business of Mongoose Energy, creating a new renewable energy asset manager, currently with 52MW of assets under management and 100% owned by seven community energy companies: Bath & West Community Energy, Bristol Energy Cooperative, Chelwood Community Energy, Kent Community Energy, Low Carbon Gordano, Orchard Community Energy and Wight Community Energy.
Bright Renewables is a 100% community-owned renewable energy asset management business, serving communities and commercial clients across the UK. It is unique in its commitment to maximise profits that are returned to the community owners for reinvestment into their local communities rather than to private investors.
The acquisition was supported by a loan from CORE LLP, a £40m investment partnership between Power to Change Trust and Big Society Capital, which invests in ground mounted solar energy assets in partnership with and on behalf of communities. Power to Change Trust also provided a grant to enable Bright Renewables to deliver cost-effective and high quality asset management services and significantly greater benefit to the local communities it serves.
Vidhya Alakeson, Chief Executive of Power to Change comments: “Bright Renewables is a significant step towards supporting increased community ownership of local energy infrastructure, so we were delighted to be able to support it. The community energy sector now has dedicated technical and commercial expertise to ensure that the energy assets it owns and manages generate maximum community benefit rather than private profit”.
Penny Shepherd MBE, chair of Orchard Community Energy and Chair of Bright Renewables’ parent company adds: “Community energy groups have invested in Bright Renewables because of its commitment to delivering as much social impact and community benefit as possible. Bright Renewables’ goal is to allow community groups to collaborate and benefit from economies of scale and to plough back profits into the local communities served by its clients.”
Sir Ed Davey, the chair of Mongoose Energy, says: “Mongoose Energy is delighted to see the launch of Bright Renewables. It was always part of the Mongoose Energy plan for the asset management business to become 100% community owned. We are pleased to see that vision coming to fruition.”
Rob Rabinowitz, Bright’s Managing Director, comments: “We’re thrilled with the commitment shown by our clients, CORE and Power to Change Trust. Over the next few months we are investing heavily in our asset management systems to become a best-in-class service provider. Our longer-term goal is to create an asset manager owned by the community energy sector which can drive significant synergies and compete in the wider market.”
