As an important part of our Pen Y Cae Outdoor Activities Centre (see our previous post on this  –   https://grwynefawrcic.org/2019/06/08/pen-y-cae-project/) we needed to find ways of ensuring the building had power for hot water, light and so on without reverting to the original diesel generator.  Easy in a new build, not so easy in a building that was in existence in 1830 – and probably quite a bit before that!

We all know about PV, solar thermal, hydro and wind, but we needed to know what would be the best combination in such a remote situation – and in a National Park.

We were fortunate in that some of the working party have close links with a number of people involved in renewable energy in Monmouthshire – indeed one household (Nant y Bedd) has opened on a number of occasions for the Monmouthshire Eco Open Doors.

Using these contacts we were able to both find a source, actually two sources, of funding and an expert to do the work.

The funding came via Monmouthshire LEADER and the Mons Well being Community project.  Many thanks to them

The work was undertaken by Dean Partridge of Atega, and most comprehensive it was. A full copy of it can be accessed below.

We are very happy for anyone to access and use the information included in the study, but would like to know so that we can add more anecdotal ‘evidence’ or assistance.

Penycae_Sustainable Redevelopment Feasibility Study

All we have to do now is make a final decision on how much of the proposals we need to include in the final specification for the project and then find the money!

Ian Mabberley

Director GFCIC and PyC working group

16-6-2019