Quarterly update on Burnham and Weston Energy’s performance and community impact.

1. Performance update

We’re pleased to report that Burnham and Weston Energy’s two adjacent solar sites both exceeded their Q1 2025 projections thanks to higher-than-expected sunshine. According to the Met Office, March was the sunniest in England since records began in 1910, significantly boosting output.

 

Figure 1 – Wick Green generated 870MWh, exceeding its projection by 10.5%. Figure 2 – Wick Orange generated 730MWh, exceeding its projection by 6.5%.

Wick Orange is slightly more affected by shading due to the layout of the panels, but both sites delivered excellent results for the period. Since operations began the solar farm has delivered reliable and consistent generation. To date, Wick Green has produced 44,885 MWh, 3.1% above forecast, while Wick Orange has generated 39,228 MWh, performing 2.2% above forecast. Looking ahead, we’re optimistic about performance this quarter. The recent spell of sunshine is encouraging and we remain confident that generation will stay strong.

Operations remain on track and Burnham and Weston Energy continues to be in a stable and strong financial position.

2. Community Impact

BWE’s Sunshine Fund awards £30,000 to local projects

The Strawberry Line Society was granted £2,720 to create a climate change mural with local children. The artwork will celebrate the heritage, biodiversity and spirit along the Strawberry Line, inspiring viewers to consider what climate action they could take. The solar farm will be proudly featured as part of the mural’s design.

In Weston-super-Mare, the Birnbeck Regeneration Trust received an £8,000 grant to equip a new marine plastic recycling workshop, helping turn discarded plastic into new items. Play Wild CIC has also been awarded £1,680 to run 10 outdoor learning sessions this summer for home-educated children and their families, with a visit to the solar farm also being arranged.

Growing at Grove Park used their £1,500 grant to repair their roof and install a rainwater harvesting system, helping their volunteers work more comfortably and sustainably. The Little Learners Preschool at East Huntspill Primary received £700 to develop a new sensory garden and outdoor learning area, which is nearly complete and already in use by local children.

The Purple Sheep Pantry received a grant to help members grow tomatoes and beans at home, with any surplus produce returned to the pantry. Finally, we purchased a steel shed for Friends of Berrow Beach to store their battery-powered trolley, now in action clearing bulky waste from the shoreline.

“Thank you Burnham and Weston Energy! The shed and trolley project is now complete and we’re hoping to take the trolley out on its first operational run tomorrow – Berrow beach clean day!” – Nigel Hoy, Friends of Berrow Beach

Home Energy Advice Service

BWE offers a free, expert, one-to-one service to help local people reduce their energy bills and keep warm in their home. Our dedicated program coordinator, Angi, along with skilled Home Energy Advisors Maria and Erika, have been supporting households across the former districts of Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton and North Somerset.

The team is aiming to complete around 500 visits annually. We attend friendly local events like Talking Cafés, Energy Advice Drop-Ins and Tea and Tech Days, in partnership with groups like the Community Council for North Somerset and Community Connect. In just the first three months of this year, we’ve helped residents save nearly £8,550:

  • January: 68 home visits | £3,487 in estimated savings
  • February: 55 home visits | £1,918 in estimated savings
  • March: 73 home visits | £3,142 in estimated savings

3. News

Welcome Shona Stone to Our Board

We are pleased to welcome a new local volunteer director to Burnham and Weston Energy CIC’s board. Shona Stone works as a Community Connector at LiveWest, a social housing provider which manages 40,000 homes across the South West. Shona brings over 20 years’ of experience with community development projects.

Local retrofit project making good progress

BWE has secured funding from the Community Energy Fund to explore local energy and retrofit models aimed at improving home energy efficiency across Burnham-on-Sea. Work started in October and is expected to finish by July. We’ve wrapped up a key phase of our retrofit project. Here’s what we’ve achieved:

  • Analysed local housing using EPCs and building data to understand the housing stock. Identified key housing archetypes to help target retrofit effectively.
  • Engaged with local residents to understand their motivations and concerns around home retrofit.
  • Delivered 8 free, in-depth retrofit assessments for households representing these housing types.

Next steps include:

  • Modelling potential energy, cost and carbon savings—both for individual households and at a wider community level e.g. where 10%, 30%, or 50% of local homes take part.
  • Testing flexible delivery models and funding options that BWE could lead locally.

Jake Burnyeat, BWE Director, explains: “Our aim is to develop retrofit models tailored to the area’s most common housing types—or ‘archetypes.’ The assessments will identify the energy-saving upgrades, with the findings shared with the wider community. By making these models clear, scalable and replicable, we hope to create a local resource to support homeowners and landlords in making informed improvements to their homes.”