Agenda item

Report of the Director of Regeneration and Economy and Director of Innovation

The Coventry Shareholder Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Regeneration and Economy and the Director of Innovation, which set out the Business Plan for 2025/26 for the Strategic Energy Partnership.

The fifteen-year Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) between the Council and E.ON was the first of its kind in the UK and had the potential to put Coventry at the forefront of the net zero transition.  The Council’s relationship with E.ON would help support the development of ground-breaking projects, with potential funding from E.ON as well as other sources.

A key piece of work shared in the November 2024 update, was the development of the Coventry Energy Plan. The plan provided a strategic long-term energy vision for the city, giving a detailed understanding of the energy challenges and opportunities looking to the next 15 years and beyond. The Coventry Energy Plan was being used to shape and prioritise the most impactful projects taken forward by the SEP in the years ahead, including in the 2025/26 Annual Business Plan. 

Key outputs outlined in the Annual Business Plan that the SEP intends to deliver in 2025/26 include a public sector building decarbonisation programme, starting with schools (60+ schools, delivered over a number of years); subject to successful planning permission, further development of a solar farm; exploration of a project to explore supply and demand of low cost, affordable heat at scale, recognising the opportunities presented by heat network expansion, heat zoning and energy storage and fleet decarbonisation in the City.

A pipeline of innovation programmes had been developed, and innovation projects were underway which supported the most vulnerable. This included a pilot battery storage and time of use tariff which supported customers to reduce their bills (9 installed and further 25 in pipeline) and a drone energy efficiency survey pilot to help identify residents eligible for grant funding to improve energy efficiency.

Around £1.3m had been committed in social value delivery including engagement with school children in 18 schools, care leavers work placements and a community growing project in Hillfields, Willenhall and Stoke.  All of which provided a strong foundation to leverage this initial activity into future projects, including those of a larger scale which would deliver tangible impacts for Coventry.

Annual investment in the SEP was expected to grow from £1.9m (from inception in September 2023 to March 2025), to £12.6m in 2025-26. The greenhouse gas emissions avoided by SEP activities were forecast to reach over 4,000 tonnes CO2e a year from 2027/28 and continue to grow from there. That’s the equivalent of 100,000 return trips from Coventry to London in an average car or planting 160,000 trees.

Both SEP partners are contributing resource to the partnership. This included a significant team from E.ON (13FTE. c£2.3m 25/26), above and beyond that to which E.ON committed in its bid, comprising a dedicated full time team plus experts from across E.ON who are brought in for specific projects and initiatives. The Council has a minimum annual commitment of 2.5FTEs who form the Council’s SEP project team. This Council commitment equates to c£0.2m in salary costs in 25/26 and was identified from existing resources at the outset of the partnership. A further dedicated resource has been secured using grant funding. Additional support is provided by Council officers in substantive posts as required. 

RESOLVED that, the Coventry Shareholder Committee approve the Annual Business Plan 2025/26, including the receipt of development expenditure form E.ON set out in paragraph 5.1 of the report submitted, as per the agreed governance process which is set out in the Strategic Energy Partnership Joint Venture Contract.