As the demand for electric vehicle charging increases from our students and visiting groups, we are working with a local community renewables project to add around 50kW of new photovoltaic generation to our site’s power system.

As well as using energy efficiently, increasing the renewable supply to meet CAT’s energy demands has been a priority from the start. Over the decades, and continuing today, we have been supporting local community energy projects to make this happen.

Back in 2000, CAT worked with a group of local enthusiastic experts called Bro Dyfi Community Renewables (BDCR) to develop a community-owned wind power scheme. CAT agreed to purchase the power from BDCR’s initial wind turbine. This would offer an innovative opportunity to demonstrate community renewables to our visitors and students while securing a supply of clean electricity.

Since then, BDCR has gone from strength to strength. In 2010 local shareholder investments enabled the group to install a refurbished 500kW Nordtank wind turbine on the hill above CAT, which has worked well generating clean energy, sharing the income with local people and using the profits for community-benefit projects.

Adding PV to the mix

As ever, BDCR is enthusiastic about increasing community renewable power generation and is now including photovoltaics (PV). Mixing wind and PV works very well, as they tend to generate power at different times and so make the best use of both the site and the grid connection. With support from Ynni Cymru, BDCR has installed a new 300kW PV array at its wind turbine site. CAT was keen to support this by purchasing some of the new solar electricity through a private supply connection. At peak times, this will enable the CAT site to access around 50kW of extra renewable power.

As the new ground-mounted PV array is approximately 1km from CAT, there was a need to add a connection cable. An existing cable from the first V17 wind turbine was refurbished and recommissioned, with BDCR exporting power directly to CAT’s energy control room.

The installation and CAT connection work was done by local experts and installers, supporting the community on CAT’s doorstep. BDCR is now considering launching another local share offer, which would increase its membership and share the income with the wider community.

How will this additional renewable energy be used?

As increasing numbers of people come to CAT by electric cars and bikes, this new development will help meet the charging demand.

As part of the project, one of CAT’s spinout companies DULAS Ltd will install a container unit next to the parking area. This will house a control room containing 50kW-hours of battery storage and control equipment, accessible to support teaching on site. On the outside, we will mount two new 22kW car chargers, which people will be able to use either with a card or by scanning a QR code and paying online. There will also be an e-bike charger with provision for locking and charging two bikes.

Battery capacity could be increased as needed, as they will become more important in absorbing excess generation as our future plans progress and the amount of building mounted PV increases.

This project is scheduled for completion by the end of March 2025, which means CAT will benefit from a complete PV season in the first year.

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