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An energy entrepreneur's perseverance reaps rewards in Dartmoor
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“I’m into recycling big time,” says Good Energy customer Jonathan Mathys. This is no overstatement. In 1994 Mr. Mathys undertook a huge project to “recycle” an abandoned asylum in Devon. It took four years, lots of money and an Olympian level of commitment, but what was once a collection of primarily Victorian hospital edifices is now the idyllic Moorhaven Village, nestled in the stunning surroundings of Dartmoor National Park. “It was very important to me to reuse the existing buildings,” Jonathan says.
Spread over 65 acres, with around 130 houses, and home to roughly 500 people, Moorhaven caters for a whole host of traditional British village pursuits – cricket, tennis, boules and croquet– as well as communal gardens and a children’s nursery. Each property owner is a shareholder in the Moorhaven Management Company, which owns the communal facilities. “I was very influenced by Totnes and Dartington,” says Mr. Mathys. “You need inspiration from somebody else to do anything, whatever it is, and lots of great things have come from those communities.”
After building your own village one would think that installing a micro hydro scheme in your back garden would be a piece of cake. But, says Jonathan, “it’s not for the faint-hearted.” With few precedents the regulatory hurdles are onerous. “The red tape is the same for my tiny scheme” – an 11kWp High Head hydro – “as it would be for a mega scheme,” he says. It took Jonathan seven years to complete the project and approximately £75,000 – in addition to £20,000 worth of grants provided by RE4D and the Dartmoor Sustainability Fund.
Now the scheme is up and running Jonathan expects to generate approximately 47MWh earning him around £7000 a year. Equally important: “I should be preventing 83 tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere every year.”
After the numerous hurdles and hours of negotiation he had to go through does Jonathan think it was worth it? Absolutely, he responds. “It’s a fabulous stream, it’s a beautiful valley and the technology is so simple. It’s just a load of cups and spindles running a fan belt. People can look at it and understand it, and that’s really important to me,” he says. “I’m very proud of the fact that there it is, churning away, with minimum maintenance, and will still be there for my grandchildren to enjoy in years to come.”
He hopes, however, that in the same way that the pioneers of Totnes and Dartington inspired him, he can inspire future energy entrepreneurs. “We could have the same thing on every stream on Dartmoor but over the seven years that I have spent looking at it I am the only person to have put a new scheme in. People just give up on the red tape. The path must be made smoother.”
It is energy pioneers like Jonathan Mathys, tapping into local resources, and working to overcome the barriers to homegrown renewable energy generation that will help us reach our goal of a 100% renewable UK.
Spread over 65 acres, with around 130 houses, and home to roughly 500 people, Moorhaven caters for a whole host of traditional British village pursuits – cricket, tennis, boules and croquet– as well as communal gardens and a children’s nursery. Each property owner is a shareholder in the Moorhaven Management Company, which owns the communal facilities. “I was very influenced by Totnes and Dartington,” says Mr. Mathys. “You need inspiration from somebody else to do anything, whatever it is, and lots of great things have come from those communities.”
After building your own village one would think that installing a micro hydro scheme in your back garden would be a piece of cake. But, says Jonathan, “it’s not for the faint-hearted.” With few precedents the regulatory hurdles are onerous. “The red tape is the same for my tiny scheme” – an 11kWp High Head hydro – “as it would be for a mega scheme,” he says. It took Jonathan seven years to complete the project and approximately £75,000 – in addition to £20,000 worth of grants provided by RE4D and the Dartmoor Sustainability Fund.
Now the scheme is up and running Jonathan expects to generate approximately 47MWh earning him around £7000 a year. Equally important: “I should be preventing 83 tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere every year.”
After the numerous hurdles and hours of negotiation he had to go through does Jonathan think it was worth it? Absolutely, he responds. “It’s a fabulous stream, it’s a beautiful valley and the technology is so simple. It’s just a load of cups and spindles running a fan belt. People can look at it and understand it, and that’s really important to me,” he says. “I’m very proud of the fact that there it is, churning away, with minimum maintenance, and will still be there for my grandchildren to enjoy in years to come.”
He hopes, however, that in the same way that the pioneers of Totnes and Dartington inspired him, he can inspire future energy entrepreneurs. “We could have the same thing on every stream on Dartmoor but over the seven years that I have spent looking at it I am the only person to have put a new scheme in. People just give up on the red tape. The path must be made smoother.”
It is energy pioneers like Jonathan Mathys, tapping into local resources, and working to overcome the barriers to homegrown renewable energy generation that will help us reach our goal of a 100% renewable UK.
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