Flagship Group and Sero have successfully secured funding through the government’s Community Energy Fund, a new £10m programme that helps communities in England develop clean energy projects to benefit their local areas.

Flagship, which manages more than 32,000 homes in the East of England, has selected Sero to undertake a feasibility study and produce a report to establish the technical and financial viability of clean energy projects.

Cardiff-based Sero worked with Flagship on its bid and helped secure the maximum Stage 1 funding of £40,000, which will be distributed by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The company was selected as a partner due to its experience in coordinating and planning large scale energy projects in social housing.

The aim of the project is to assess the feasibility of utilising solar and battery technologies as part of Flagship’s retrofit strategy, to both fund works and spread the savings equitably across all social housing residents – who opt into the scheme – even for those properties where installing the technology is not possible; thus, benefitting entire communities.

The feasibility study conducted by Sero will review Flagship’s housing stock, outline legal and technical considerations such as grid capacity, and assess financial models for funding/pay back. Resident appetite and engagement will also be fed into the report.

Upon completion of the feasibility study and a favourable outcome of Stage 1, Flagship and Sero will then apply for Stage 2 funding with a maximum funding potential of £100,000.

Garry Knights, Strategic Asset Director at Flagship, said: “We are delighted to have won this bid for the government’s new Community Energy Fund, with the support of Sero. Flagship has ambitious plans to retrofit hundreds of homes with better insulation and upgraded heating systems. The goal is to create to warmer, more efficient homes for our tenants, which will lead to significant reductions in their energy bills. It will also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the country’s goal of becoming a net zero country by 2050. We’re looking forward to working with Sero and learning from their experience in coordinating and assessing similar decarbonisation programmes.”

James Williams, CEO and co-founder of Sero, said: “We’re proud to be supporting Flagship on this project and are excited to see the outcomes. To make retrofit happen at scale and achieve net zero, the housing industry needs to have the confidence to innovate and consider alternative funding models. Organisations such as Flagship who are pioneering these new ways of working are just what the industry needs and we’re proud to be part of it.”