Micro wind research project (April 2025)

From April 1st 2025, we are looking to recruit individual or business properties within Bannau Brycheiniog National Park to participate in research into the value and feasibility of single pole micro wind generation.

Interested in Micro Wind Generation?

Talybont on Usk Energy is a volunteer run community company. We are researching the potential value and feasibility of single pole, micro wind generation for individual businesses or domestic properties within the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. Our motivation is to reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of energy. Free initial viability assessments will be offered to a selected number of promising sites.

If your property has an annual average windspeed of 5 m/s, a 5.5 kW micro turbine mounted on a single pole could generate 6,900 kWh/year or 10,900 kWh/year with an average windspeed of 6m/s. 

Enter your Lat/Long co-ordinates at https://globalwindatlas.info/en to check your own site’s estimated annual windspeed at 10m height. 

Installation of a 5.5 kW small turbine could cost £35,000 to £45,00 depending on the individual site. 

If you are interested, please complete this short form about your property.  https://forms.gle/aWhtkPnSaQb9Lyww9 . PLEASE NOTE: Recruitment for inclusion in the research project is now closed (June 2025). We will post progress updates here.

You can find a more detailed information sheet here.

The Rewear Project (Summer 2025)

Student projects

Summer Student Energy Project 2024

Posted onJuly 8, 2024byAlison Kidd

We are delighted to have awarded Luc James our student energy project funding for this summer. Luc lives in Scethrog and is curently studying Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London. Luc’s winning proposal is to research possibilities for micro wind turbines in our area for generating energy for domestic properties or small businesses. This will include exploring challenges to small turbines from ecological, social, locational and planning perspectives and researching different turbine designs and mechanisms and their comparative generation efficiency. We will enjoy working with him on his project.

We were also delighted to hear that Billy Merrill-Glover (our 2023 summer student) has been awarded a PhD place at Manchester University studing carbon capture.

Last summer (2023), we ran our first summer student project where we fund a local person (aged 18-25) to suggest and run a 4 week project which researches or develops an idea which could either reduce our community’s energy or generate new energy from a sustainable source. Projects can be in any of the following areas: domestic heating, food, transport, material consumption, waste or leisure activities/tourism.

Billy Merrill-Glover won the 2023 competition and carried out a fun and very useful feasibility study for a Water Source Heat Pump on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal which runs through our villages.

Domestic Heating – subsidised consultations

We have offered 75% subsidies for local households to trial individualised remote consultations with ‘The Heating Hub’ . You can read about the different road map consultations which Heating Hub offers here: https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/how-we-work/green-home-plans The consultations are by ‘phone and online and range in price from £250 to £450 depending on the size and complexity of the house and the level of advice you want.  Two households have taken up this offer and we hope to report back in due course on their experiences in order to decide whether to continue this subsidised scheme.

Engagement with local schools through Energy Sparks

Energy Sparks is a UK wide scheme which helps schools become more energy efficient and fight climate change, through an online, school-specific energy analysis tool and energy education.  Talybont Energy is funding up to 8 local schools to join the scheme. 4 local schools are currently signed up including Llangynidr (against our ceiling of 8). We are looking for ways to build on the relationships formed.

An invite to our community groups…….

(May 2024) Talybont Energy is planning a series of informal meet ups with any of our wide diversity of community groups or village businesses who would like to explore ideas of how to reduce their energy or increase sustainability in the activities they run or the facilities they manage. We can then look to help fund any ideas or projects which emerge. 

This might involve chatting together about :-

• current energy use & costs – ways to reduce them
• consumption of resources like tools, materials, food
• possibilities of sharing resources or energy
• how to convert to more renewable sources of energy or more sustainable practices
• ways to generate renewable energy
• recycling, sharing or re-use of materials, 
• skills training 

Projects might involve heating, lighting, insulation, transport, consumables (food or materials) or activities/events of any kind for our community or our visitors. 

If your group, organisation or community based business would be interested in meeting up with us for an hour sometime to chat through ideas informally, then do contact us at info@talybontenergy.co.uk