Microgeneration encouraged through EEDA funding

Funding has been made available to assist those living in fuel poverty in the east of England, it has emerged.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is to provide some £1 million to residents in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

According to the BBC, the funding is intended to increase the uptake of domestic wind turbines, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps.

Richard Ellis, spokesperson for the EEDA, explained that even in the more affluent parts of the region, people are living in fuel poverty.

Alex Menhams, campaign manager for the pilot scheme, outlined the technologies that will be encouraged.

"These include solar panels, domestic wind energy and new combined power and heat units that use wood or conventional fuels to create heat and to generate electricity so are hugely effective," he said.

In related news, Norfolk is to become one of 11 sites across the country where new windfarms are to be installed, it was revealed last week.