Posted on: Wednesday 28 May 2025
A decarbonisation project has helped 45 community groups and businesses to reduce carbon emissions and save up to £60,000 a year on gas and electricity.
Over the past year, the council's energy management team has given grants of up to £25,000 to help organisations fund energy saving measures, such as solar panels and low carbon heating.
This year, grants of up to £15,000 for community groups and up to £10,000 for businesses are available to help them reduce carbon emissions and save money.
Applications need to be made by July 5 - please contact energy.management@torfaen.gov.uk.
Additional funding is also available for larger scale energy reduction schemes.
Able Wales, which has a day centre in Cwmbran, received £24,000 to install solar panels and battery storage, saving an estimated three tonnes of carbon - equivalent to the amount of emissions produced by driving 15,000 miles.
Managing Director Shaun O'Dwyer said: "We applied for the energy grant as our electricity cost had increased by 300 per cent since 2022. In addition, over the last five years Able has been working towards more environmentally- friendly buildings at our facility, this includes biomass heating systems and LED lighting.
"Since going live in April 2024, 84 per cent of our electricity on average has come from solar energy. Our bills are down by over £1,100 a month so far, this saving will allow us to continue investment in other areas of the social enterprise company."
Ponthir village hall also received a grant to install solar panels and battery storage.
Paul Buffery said: "The solar panels have been producing around 70 per cent of our electricity needs. In just over three months, we saved more than £1,500 and reduced emissions equivalent to the carbon reduction benefit of planting 60 trees."
Sarah Rees, from Salon Rene, in Cwmbran, receiving nearly £5,000 to pay for LED fluorescent lighting and energy efficient heaters.
She said: "We have had all our old fluorescent lighting replaced to LEDs, which has made an amazing difference. It is so much lighter and so much neater.
"We have also changed our old storage heaters, which were very inefficient, to new much more efficient heaters. The difference to output heat has been incredible. It has made such a difference to my business."
Cllr Sue Morgan, Executive Member for Waste and Sustainability, said: "This grant scheme is one of the many practical ways we are supporting organisations and businesses to become more energy efficient both reducing emissions and saving money.
"Supporting communities to become net carbon zero is part of the council's plan to tackle the climate and nature emergency inline with our County Plan Well-being Objectives."
Net carbon zero means achieving a balance between the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere, through energy use and travel for example, and the amount removed from it, through nature recovery and biodiversity.
For more information about the Energy Efficiency Grants scheme, contact energy.management@torfaen.gov.uk
The Energy Efficiency Grants Scheme is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Find out what other organisations have been helped and what support is available to households to reduce energy and cut bills: https://www.torfaen.gov.uk/en/Climate-Change/Net-Zero-2050/Net-Zero-2050.aspx
Interested in switching to solar energy? Find out more about a new community-led solar panel project.