Public Funding for Blueprint Limited Partnership

Project Notch looks to accelerate the adoption of Community Energy Systems (CES). CES is a different way of generating and supplying heat and electricity to homes and commercial buildings - locally produced energy is used locally with minimal or no use of the national grid. The benefits are reduced cost and more efficient use of distributed renewables to reduce the overall carbon emissions from the energy system. Most of the necessary technologies are available but they are too expensive for consumers to invest in themselves and the business model is not in place that shows companies how they will make a return, so they dont invest. Project Notch starts with a blank sheet of paper: a new housing development in Nottingham’s Trent Basin. It brings together all the companies involved in the energy supply chain with the potential buyers of up to 120 homes on site. Involving heat and electricity the aim is to operate independent of the gas and electric grids. Using novel consumer engagement tools and a focus on business model development the consortium will develop and test business model templates that could be used by any developers of large scale housing projects.