- The Brae Rural Energy Hub Community Interest Company (the Brae Hub CIC) was established by the Innovate UK project as a locally led and staffed organisation to run the Brae Hub long term. Their staff and directors bring hands on experience of operating a Hub to consulting and can host site visits for communities that are exploring the potential of setting up a Hub.
- Aquatera Ltd is an environmental consultancy based in Orkney and were the lead partner in the REH Project. They led the development of the business and services for the Brae Hub, recruited the staff for the CIC and created the Replication Framework for Rural Energy Hubs. Aquatera are the lead on application of the Framework to new projects.
- Shetland Islands Council (SIC) was the partner in the REH project that led on the development of the Brae Hub in collaboration with Aquatera and CES, and the retrofit of the Brae Youth and Community Centre as its base, as well as trialling an electric bus, expanding the Shetland Car Club to include electric vans and conduction a transport review for the North Mainland of Shetland and a feasibility study for district heating for Brae.
- Community Energy Scotland (CES) led the development of the governance model for the Brae Hub and development of community transport related services in the Hub. They also established a network of community development organisations collaborating on decarbonisation of community transport across Orkney and Shetland, and delivered activity on car clubs, ebikes, EV charger networks, and energy monitoring in homes and community buildings.
- The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) were the project partner looking at options for decarbonising aviation where inter island flights are a lifeline service. This included trialling use of drones for deliveries of essential supplies between islands including medical supplies.
- Orkney Island Council (OIC) trialled the use of an electric bin lorry which along with the electric bus trial in Shetland by SIC, acted as a demonstration to test the use of alternative fuel large mobility vehicles for rural public service delivery. They also upgraded pier infrastructure in Kirkwall and on the island of Eday to support the upcoming trial of electric ferries in Orkney.
Who is the team behind Rural Energy Hubs?
We are a consortium of six organisations that collaborated on the Innovate UK Funded Rural Energy Hubs project 2024-2026 (REH). Depending on the needs of your community, different partners might be a good fit for collaborating on a project in your area. We can provide ad hoc support for project development, consulting services or partner on projects.
For enquiries in the first instance please contact:
Jade Wilson at the Brae Hub CIC: [email protected]
Anna Marriott at Aquatera: [email protected]