Power Up North London- St. Anne's Church

Help us to Power Up North London!

Power Up North London are looking to raise £30,100 through a Community Share Offer to install 19kW of solar PV at St. Anne’s Church, Highgate.

Who are Power Up North London?

Power Up North London is a community benefit society, set up in 2014 to bring renewable energy to our local community in the Camden/ Islington area. The project was started by three local Transition Town groups in Dartmouth Park, Tufnell Park and Kentish Town.  We are run by volunteers who meet monthly, and who collectively have experience across renewable energy, finance, business, policy, communications and community organising. Find out more about our team here

How did the solar project come about?

Power Up North London was awarded an Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF) grant in 2015 which enabled us to undertake feasibility work for a community solar project. We began speaking to St. Anne's Church in Highgate, who were keen to explore putting solar panels on the roof, and we have been working together to build a project that will benefit the church, the environment and the local community. After a lot of hard work, our planning application was approved in July, largely due to the support of the 106 residents who sent comments in favour of the application. We're delighted to have such huge local support for the project and hope it will be the first of many.

What are the benefits of the project?
• The panels will generate an estimated 16,465kWh of clean energy a year, which equates to a reduction in carbon emissions of around 8.7t/year.
• The church will benefit from discounted energy, through a power purchase agreement with Power Up North London.
• Parishioners and members of the local community will benefit from a small return on their investment, while being given the opportunity to invest for social and environmental benefit
• Any surplus income will be put into PUNL’s Community Energy Fund, which will be available for further projects in the local area
• The panels will be a community asset that can be used for educational purposes and to encourage others to explore renewable energy

Where will the income come from?

The £30,100 Community Share Offer will fund the installation of the panels. Power Up North London will receive income from three sources:

• We have a Feed- in -Tariff (FiT) rate secured for 20 years, which is a payment from the government for each unit of energy generated
• Selling electricity to the church at a discounted price
• Selling the remaining energy back to the grid.

Shareholder benefits

Buying shares in PUNL means you will automatically become a member of the Community Benefit Society. Your investment plus a small amount of interest will be repaid in annual installments from Year 2. The interest rate will be between 0.6% and 5% per year for 20 years, predicted to average at 2%.

Members are entitled to receive the Society’s annual accounts, vote at the Society’s Annual General Meetings, and stand for election to the Board of Directors. Members will democratically decide on future projects and how PUNL’s Community Energy Fund is to be administered. We hope you will view investment as an opportunity to support a project with environmental and social benefit; the rate of return is modest in keeping with our rules as a Community Benefit Society.

The shares

Shares are in Power Up North London, a registered Community Benefit Society.
The Shares are Ordinary shares of £1 each. For each member, the minimum investment is £250 and the maximum is £3,000. Each member will have one vote irrespective of the amount invested. The shares are in PUNL as a whole, and not the St. Anne’s installation specifically. This means interest rates may be affected by future share offers, however all future projects will be subject to the approval of members and will only be recommended for approval if they maintain or increase upon the current projected interest rate.

Community Shares Standard Mark

This share offer has received the Community Shares Standard Mark.

The Community Shares Standard Mark is awarded by the Community Shares Unit to offers that meet national standards of good practice. For more informationabout community shares, the Community Shares Standard Mark and the Community Shares Unit go to: communityshares.org.uk

Risks
Community shares are fully at risk, and you could lose some or all of the money you invest. You have no right to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, nor any right of complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.