Power Circle’s mission is to enable local energy users to access low carbon energy at scale in a way that is affordable, fair and breaks down social barriers. To achieve this, it works in partnership with a wide range of organisations including local authorities, social landlords, technology providers and a range of funders, both public and private. Together, Power Circle’s projects are tackling some of the UK’s most pressing challenges – and putting people and place-based power at the centre of the solution.

Our ambition is to make clean, affordable energy available to local people by breaking down the barriers that hold communities back – such as lack of finance, capacity and limited access to data and procurement.

– Jon Cape, Managing Director of Power Circle Projects

The Challenge

Millions of households across the UK are struggling with energy costs. As of July 2025, fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action estimates that there are 10 million UK households in fuel poverty (those households spending 10% or more of their income on energy) . This is largely due to rising energy prices and the scaling down of support measures. National Energy Action, highlights that the energy price cap is £1,720 per year, while cost-of-living payments, such as the £900 for those on means-tested benefits, were removed in April 2024. This has put increasing pressure on households.

At the same time, the UK Government has targets to achieve Clean Power by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050, in the face of the ever more obvious impacts of climate change.

Essex County Council is a Tier 1 authority with clear climate ambitions. Its Climate Action Plan and wider Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral Strategy set out how the county will tackle emissions across energy, buildings and communities. But the Council knows it can’t achieve a sustainable, net zero future alone –it’s committed to working in partnership with businesses, communities and innovators to deliver lasting, positive change.

There has never been a more urgent need to generate clean, affordable energy in a way that’s fair and inclusive.

– Jon Cape, Managing Director of Power Circle Projects

The Innovation

Power Circle Projects’ approach is rooted in smart local energy systems – helping homes, businesses, and public bodies generate and store their own clean energy. Through its Solar Circle programme, the company develops and funds solar PV (photovoltaic) and battery projects using an ethical, socially-owned model.

EssNet, the Innovate UK-supported project in Essex, addresses the non-technical barriers that often block projects at the local level. The physical resources exist, such as land and rooftops, but there’s a lack of finance, capacity, data and business models to get projects up and running.

In response to this, EssNet delivered Essex Community Energy CIC (ECECIC), a social energy services company designed to facilitate place-based generation opportunities within Essex and beyond, and to overcome the non-technical barriers.

The creation of ECECIC – which operates independently of Essex County Council – means that householders, businesses and communities across the county can now access expertise, finance, and procurement support to realise their solar ambitions. They already have the ambition and enthusiasm – now they can have the support to take forward their energy generation and storage projects.

Our use of Revenue Based Finance (RBF) enables the programme to be 100% socially owned, whilst incorporating a return to funders that is related to project performance. This provides scope to scale on a financially robust basis. To our knowledge, this is the first time RBF has been used in a project finance context.

– Jon Cape, Managing Director of Power Circle Projects

The impact

From pilot projects with social housing tenants to large-scale planning, the impact is already clear:

• Positive community feedback, including tenants describing the service as ‘life-changing’
• Support for Essex County Council’s net zero action plan and fuel poverty goals
• A scalable model that benefits households, businesses and councils alike

The Net Zero Living Programme, and particularly its cohort approach, has been invaluable to Essex County Council and its net zero ambitions. The EssNet project itself has given us the opportunity to work alongside innovators and experts to help shape solutions that meet the needs of our communities, businesses and environment.

– Carole Randall, Energy and Low Carbon Project Development Officer, Essex County Council.

What’s next?

Power Circle Projects is preparing to scale the Solar Circle programme scaling up from £10m to a potential £100m+. They have also set a target of 100,000 installations a year by 2032.

For other organisations thinking of working with local authorities or Innovate UK, Jon’s advice is simple: be nimble, be adaptable, celebrate quick wins but accept that this can be a long journey.

Partnering with Innovate UK is a great way to move forward on delivering challenging climate change and other key organisational objectives. Innovate UK is a rich resource of support, expertise and importantly connects us to other innovators in the private, academic and public sectors – the cohort support and networking under the Net Zero Living Programme has been particularly valuable.

– Jon Cape, Managing Director of Power Circle Projects

Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste Reduction and Recycling, Councillor Peter Schwier, said:

I am delighted that Essex has been able to support the partnerships driving this work in successfully unlocking substantial funding through the ambitious ESSNET project. At Essex County Council, we are dedicated to making energy more affordable, sustainable and attainable. We understand that the key to achieving this is through collaboration at both a local and national scale. Through projects such as ESSNET, Essex is working to ensure that the future of energy in the county and the country has a secure and exciting future.