Welcome to Torry Community Energy

This site has been quickly launched to provide additional information in advance of a
Public Meeting on:
29 October at 7:00 P.M. in the
Greyhope Hub, Grampian Place, Torry

What’s It All About?

We are proposing that the local community in Torry benefits from the solar farm that is being built of the former NESS landfill site. If the idea gathers momentum we will make the case to Aberdeen City Council that they support the initiative. A working group will be formed and a feasibility study conducted. If the idea progresses a not-for-profit organisation will be set up to mange the project and create an Energy Club. Members of the club would benefit by paying less for their electricity at certain times.

The NESS landfill site was used as a dump for municipal rubbish from the 1970s until 2001. After it was closed it took until 2013 to be capped and made safe.

It was then that an alternative use first considered. Aberdeen City Council and AREG (Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group) proposed a solar farm for the site but funding and technical constraints put the proposal on hold for almost a decade.

Then, in early 2022, a joint venture between ACC and BP was announced to use solar-generated power for a hydrogen production facility in Hareness Road. This was linked to powering the hydrogen bus fleet and other council-owned HGVs. By late 2024, the proposal had overcome planning hurdles, and in late 2025 RSK Renewables were commissioned by the joint company to begin initial work on what will become an array of 11,362 panels..

But earlier this year, ACC decided to terminate its hydrogen-powered bus program and break its joint venture agreement with bp. On August 28, the dissolution of partnership was officially completed following ACCs purchase of bp’s shares in the project for a nominal £1.

What’s The Opportunity?

With the exit of bp, the project has now become a 100% Council subsidiary company but construction of the solar farm is not affected. However, now that bp are no longer involved changes what is possible. The hydrogen production plant wouldn’t have needed a connection to the National Grid; other possibilities would need a connection. That is what presents the opportunity to divert power to the community

The Council now proposes that the generated power is used instead for charging what is now an electric, not a hydrogen, bus fleet, plus the city’s waste collection vehicles which are also being electrified. In our view that is a good move and an environmentally justifiable use of the NESS site.

It does however present technical challenges. Solar energy peaks during the day but the main need for charging vehicles will be overnight when they are off the road. Storage some of the energy in batteries is feasible, at least for the waste-vehicle fleet which is parked very close to the solar farm. But at peak generation, and especially for the bus fleet located in King Street, some of the power will need to be exported to the grid and drawn down again at night.

The specifics of the technical options are complex and beyond the scope of this initial briefing. However, whichever technical solution is employed, it is likely that a peak daytime surplus will be in excess of the authority’s capacity to simultaneously use and store.

What’s The Potential Benefit?

The excess power generation creates ‘spillover’ energy which needs to be sold or utilised:

• Differing demand profiles between EV charging and daytime household use mean that consumption cycles do not entirely overlap. Using an energy club to deliver cheap day-time power managed by start meters to local residents would be of most benefit to those in fuel poverty – those confined to home through disability, homemakers with young families, poorer pensioners. The imminent availability of relative cheap plug-in batteries that could be finance-managed by the club adds further savings potential;
• By negotiating a community tariff with an energy provider, it would be possible for local residents to buy the power at a fair, stable rate which is lower than retail (10%-30% saving) but simultaneously is advantageous to the local authority by being paid than what they could get by simply selling on the wholesale market.
• The number of permutations of a) the technical configuration of the charging network as it interacts with b) the specific community structures and contract models that might be entered into, are considerable. But the main point of emphasis is that it cannot be assumed that any power diverted for community use is a loss to the local authority. For now though, it is not the aim to delve into the many variables, simply to form a tentative opinion about whether there is sufficient justification to move forward with this initiative, and begin conversations with interested parties and potential partner organisations.

Why Get Involved?

The case for the community benefitting from locally produced electricity is compelling. For decades the area has borne the brunt of waste processing in various forms from landfill, to sewage treatment and now incineration. The community has endured decades of excessive noise, additional traffic, persistent odours, compounded by the recent loss of the Bay of Nigg and the threatened loss of a significant part of St. Fittick’s Park.

That the Ness Landfill site on Tullos Hill, for so long a visual blight on the landscape, now has the potential to be a site of clean energy production, is a perfect opportunity to give something back to those most adjacent to it. Historically, Torry has taken the city’s waste. Now, it should reap some of the benefit. Diverting energy to a local club directly compensates the community by providing cheap, clean power to the very people whose environment was compromised to create the asset.

While the EV charging ambitions of the Council are broadly environmentally sound, the long-term benefits, should they materialise, accrue to the city as a whole. While arguably benefitting all its citizens, the initiative will not tackle fuel poverty in an area which has high levels of socio-economic deprivation. Increased provision of public-access EV charging points in the city doesn’t help those without vehicles, a group that includes those most likely to be in fuel poverty.

Next Steps

If this proposal is supported by the local community, a steering group would decide how to move the idea forward but the following topics would need to be considered:

1. Decide on which organisational/legal structure to set up;
2. How to further inform/promote the idea to the local community;
3. Identify technical expertise requirements; commission technical report/feasibility study if felt necessary (sources below may obviate the ned for this;
4. Initiate preliminary discussions with Aberdeen City Council and Octopus energy;
5. Engage with Community Energy Scotland, and other potential sources of support/partners;
6. Look to raise initial, immediate funding for professional fees and general administration;
7. Plan how to garner political support.