Sheringham Shoal grant provides solar power for new Wighton Village Hall
Wighton is a village close to Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk, whose community of around 300 residents succeeded in raising £730,000 to replace its existing ‘recreation hut’ with a new environmentally friendly village hall, licensed for occupancy by up to 242 people.
The fund-raising campaign included a grant from the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund which has enabled the Project Committee to install a 430kWh solar PV panel system in the recently completed building. This is primarily used to supply electricity to power an air source heat pump which provides under floor heating and hot water whilst also powering two electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the car park.
The Sheringham Shoal Community Fund was established by the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm to support a range of community projects in North Norfolk, particularly those which address climate change, sustainable communities, the marine environment/safety, enewable energy and education/employment.
George Brett-Reynolds welcomes Susan Falch-Lovesey to Wighton Village Hall.
Image courtesy of Susie Freeman
The wind farm is operated by Equinor, and Equinor’s Norfolk Stakeholder Manager Susan Falch-Lovesey visited Wighton Village Hall late last year to celebrate the completion of the installation and commissioning of the solar PV system.
Welcoming her to the Village Hall, the Chairman of the Management Committee, George Brett-Reynolds, said:
“As the underfloor heating system is powered by the 36 roof-based solar panels, we are now able to offer a warm, welcoming atmosphere regardless of the time of day for which the hall is booked for an event or activity”.
He continued:
“When developing the plans for the new village hall, the Project Committee undertook considerable research through visits to other community facilities, and efficient and cost-effective heating, along with high quality acoustics, featured highly when the results of those visits were analysed.”
By the end of 2023, the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www.norfolkfoundation.com) had awarded grants of over £1.2m since its establishment in 2010. It receives a donation of £100,000 per annum from the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, which is operated by Equinor.
About Equinor in Norfolk
Equinor is a long-term partner for Norfolk and has been an active member of the community for over a decade through the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms it operates off the Norfolk coast.
The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources, whilst Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Equitix Offshore 5 (co-owned by Equitix and the Renewable Investment Group TRIG) and a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management).
On behalf of its partners, Equinor is also maturing the proposed Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extension projects (SEP and DEP). SEP and DEP will double the capacity of the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms, providing renewable energy to power an additional 785,000 UK homes and making an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals.
Currently, the combined output of Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms is sufficient to power around 710,000 UK homes, and the proposed extensions will increase that to nearly 1.5 million UK households.
Both wind farms have established community funds which in total have awarded over £1 million to projects in Norfolk. The funds were set up to provide grants to Norfolk community groups, including schools and charities, seeking financial assistance for projects or initiatives that meet key criteria and focus on renewable energy, marine environment and safety, sustainability, or education in these areas. During 2020, the funds provided grant funding to the Norfolk Community Foundation’s COVID-19 funding initiatives, and during 2021 grant funding has been made available to support Norfolk’s ‘every child on-line’ initiative.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alice Baxter
UK Media Relations Manager, Equinor
Abax@equinor.com
+44 7557973941
For consultation of community enquiries, please contact:
Nigel Tompkins
Nigel Tompkins, the Projects’ Community Liaison Officer based in Norfolk,
nigel@ni4b.co.uk