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Sheffield the UK’s top renewable energy producer

Sheffield solar power sees city top table for renewable energy installation, Steel city has added the most renewable energy production per head since introduction of feed-in tariffs last year. Sheffield shines out as the soar-away winner of the solar stakes in the UK, with more solar power generation added in the city per household than in any other British city, according to a league table published on Monday. Guardian UK, Fiona Harvey,  12 September 2011 

Northern cities have been the unexpected winners from the boom inrenewable energy that has followed the introduction of feed-in tariffs to pay for power generated by households, which are popular as they offer a guaranteed income stream as well as free electricity.

Nearly 2 megawatts of capacity have been added in Sheffield in the last 15 months, and Leeds comes second in the league table, with more than 1MW of capacity added. They are followed – though at quite a distance – by Bristol, Bradford and Birmingham, when renewable energyinstallations per person are counted.

London has added more renewable power than anywhere else, with more than 3.2 megawatts of capacity added in the 15 months since feed-in tariffs became available. But when assessed per head, it comes only sixth in the UK.

Sheffield has benefitted from a strong push by the local council to encourage the take-up of renewable power, and in particular by plans to give people living in social housing access to the technology, said Colin McNaught, knowledge leader on renewable energy for AEA Group, which carried out the research on which the league table is based.

He said that the unexpected success of northern cities in installing new renewable power flew in the face of expectations that the south would benefit most from photovoltaic installations.

McNaught said the boom was likely to continue, both in terms of domestic solar power installations and in bigger renewable energy projects…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/12/sheffield-solar-power-tops-table

September 12, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, UK