Broughton Community Energy
Broughton Community Energy

Photographs by Jo MacDonald

Who are we?

Broughton Community Energy is a small volunteer group with big ambitions. Our focus is on developing low-cost, low-carbon energy solutions for our village.

This website is a work in progress, so please bear with us. We will update this site as the project progresses, so please check back soon.

Why is Change Needed?

Change is needed
We need to change
how and where we
produce energy,
and how we use it.

Broughton Community Energy

Climate change

2023 was the planet's hottest year since records began. Greenhouse gases emitted by human activity in the post-industrial era contribute to global warming.

Broughton Community Energy

High fuel costs

The UK's dependency on imported fuel and global energy markets means prices can fluctuate dramatically. Energy independence will increase energy security and stabilise prices.

Broughton Community Energy

Fossil fuel
car ban

The government has committed to reinstating the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales. Electric vehicles will replace them.

Broughton Community Energy

Fossil fuel
heating ban

The sale of new oil and gas boilers will be banned from 2035. Heating systems powered by electricity will replace them.

Broughton Community Energy

Grid capacity

The electrification of the UK's economy will double the demand in the coming years, and the grid cannot be scaled sufficiently. Electricity generated closer to where it's used will reduce the strain.

Back to top

What are our objectives?

Environmental

  • Reduce CO2 emissions from our village
  • Enable the cost-effective replacement of fossil fuel heating
  • Support the transition to electric vehicles
  • Contribute to regional and national sustainability goals

Economic

  • Reduce our energy costs
  • Reduce energy poverty in our community
  • Increase our energy security and resilience

Community

  • Provide a blueprint that inspires other communities to act
  • Elevate community cohesion

What have we achieved to date?

  • Established a working group that meets regularly
  • Agreed on the Vision and Objectives, having tested them with initial pilot groups
  • Secured the support of Broughton Parish Council and Test Valley Borough Council
  • Engaged local action groups who are now supporting us, including Community Energy South, Dragonfly Power, and Energise South Downs
  • Held initial meetings with the TVBC Planning Department
  • Engaged Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN), who operate our local electrical distribution network, to understand what might be possible
  • Held a Future Energy Landscapes Workshop on 27 November in the village hall to better understand community sentiment and get valuable input.  The workshop was very well attended, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
  • Awarded a £40K grant from the government’s Community Energy Fund (CEF) to undertake a full feasibility study. We expect the grant to be available in July 2025.
  • Selected a specialist consultancy to support us with the feasibility study.
What comes next?
  • Receive the £40k grant from the Community Energy Fund (expected July 2025)
  • Receive formal feedback from SSEN on the viability of us connecting generation to the local electricity grid (September 2025)
  • Undertake a full project feasibility study (Autumn & Winter 2025)
  • Issue a Community Energy Questionnaire to ensure we have everybody’s input (Autumn 2025)
How can I find out more or register my interest?
  • You can register your interest and receive regular updates by joining the dedicated WhatsApp group here.
Contribute your thoughts...

We’re committed to this being a community-led initiative, so if you’d like to learn more and contribute your thoughts, a working group member will be delighted to speak with you. Please email broughton.ce@outlook.com

Privacy Policy

We take our obligations concerning data protection seriously. We are providing this notice, so you have information about how we collect and process your personal data on our website. We ask you to please read this Privacy Notice as it has important information you need to know.

Who We are?
As part of the Broughton Community Energy Project, your data will be collected and processed by The Prospus Group, the Broughton Community Energy Working Group, and Broughton Parish Council.

What information do we collect and process?
In order for us to help with your business needs we may collect from you, necessary personal data. The lawful basis for collecting this data is legitimate consent as it is required to carry out our service. “Personal Data” is information about you which, either on its own or when connected with other data, allows us to identify you as an individual customer to provide you with our services. The personal data we hold may include the following:

Personal data will be collected from you or passed to us by a referral business. However, some personal data may, where lawful to do so, or with your consent, be collected by us from third parties.

Please note that you are under no obligation to provide us with your personal data, but not providing certain data could prevent us from serving you.

Security of your Personal Information
We strictly protect the security of your personal information and honours your choices for its intended use. We carefully protect your data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

Cookie Policy
We use cookies on this website. A cookie is a text file sent by a web server to a web browser and stored by the browser. The text file is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.

We may send a cookie, which may be stored on by your browser on your computer's hard drive. We may use the information we obtain from the cookie in the administration of this website, to improve the website's usability and for marketing purposes. We may also use that information to recognise your computer when you visit our website, and to personalise our website for you. Our advertisers may also send you cookies.

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. (For example, in Internet Explorer you can refuse all cookies by clicking 'Tools', 'Internet Options', 'Privacy', and selecting 'Block all cookies' using the sliding selector.) However, this will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites, including this one.

We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies which are stored on users' computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information. Google's privacy policy is available here

Why do we need your personal data?
Personal data submitted on this website will be used for the purposes specified in this privacy policy or in relevant parts of the website.

We may use your personal information to:

We will not without your express consent provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.

This list is not exhaustive and may be updated from time to time. We do not ‘trade’ in your personal data and will not sell or rent your details.

Who will your personal data be shared with?
We may share information with third party suppliers as required for external services, designs and materials, however this will only be for the contract we are carrying out at that time.

We may disclose specific information upon lawful request by government authorities, law enforcement and regulatory authorities where required or permitted by law.

In the event that we sell our business, we may share your details with the buyer to enable them to fulfil the service we have agreed with you.

Your personal information will not be transferred to, stored or otherwise processed outside the UK.

Other Disclosures
In addition to the disclosures reasonably necessary for the purposes identified elsewhere in this privacy policy, we may disclose information about you:

Except as provided in this privacy policy, we will not provide your information to third parties.

Security of your Personal Data
We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.

We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure servers. All electronic transactions you make to or receive from us will be encrypted using SSL technology.

Of course, data transmission over the Internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the Internet.

Policy Amendments
We may update this privacy policy from time-to-time by posting a new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

Your Rights
You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.

You may instruct us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes by contacting us at any time. In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal data for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to remove the use of your personal data for marketing purposes.

What rights do you have to amend personal data?
You have the right to review the personal data held by us and have inaccurate information about you corrected. To understand more about our data processing activities or to request access to your personal information please contact us.

How long do we keep your personal data?
We may keep your details on record for as long as it is necessary to meet record keeping requirements. We hold booking, invoice and email details for seven years. They are then deleted in accordance with data protection and other applicable legislation.