Last year, we told you that Dallas-based Hover Energy was heading into the U.K. market with its “islanded” microgrids that combine both wind and solar energy generation—enabling companies to reduce their carbon footprint by generating green energy onsite. Now the company’s Wind-Powered Microgrid has been installed atop its first building in the U.K.—and its owner is the Royal Navy.

The Liverpool building is known as the HMS Eaglet, a so-called “stone frigate” or shore base for units including the Royal Naval Reserve, Naval Regional Command Northern England, the Sea Cadet Corps, and more.

Hover’s exclusive U.K. partner, Task Contract Solutions, completed the project for the Ministry of Defence, and is working with Hover “to deploy in many locations throughout the U.K.,” Hover said.

‘The pathway to global net zero’

Hover Energy co-founder and CEO Chris Griffin with one of his firm’s rooftop wind turbines in the U.S.. [Video still: Hover Energy]

“Microgrids represent the pathway to global net zero,” Hover Co-Founder and CEO Chris Griffin said in a statement. “This is a monumental moment in the history of distributed generation, and the MoD is leading the way. We’re confident and extremely encouraged to be stepping together into our future with excellent partners here in the U.K.”

Royal Navy Squadron Leader Mark Byrne said the system’s installation at HMS Eaglet is part of a series of carbon-busting efforts including the Royal Navy has undertaken in the region, including the widespread introduction of solar power at nine other sites, including a 1 megawatt solar farm at Altcar Training Camp.

Royal Navy squadron leader: Energy resilience is ‘vital to the security of the site’

Hover turbine seen with Liverpool cityscape in background. [Photo: Hover Energy]

“The Hover Energy wind turbine brings together multiple technologies at this important Royal Navy headquarters building and we fully expect it to exceed our expectations, especially when future phases incorporate solar power and battery technology,” Byrne said in the statement.

“Our forecasts show that the Hover Energy wind turbine will drive down our grid electricity consumption by a baseline of 63%, which will save a significant amount of taxpayers’ money,” Byrne added. “Although economic drivers in these challenging times are extremely important, we see energy security and resilience as being equally noteworthy. HMS Eaglet is a major hub for collaborative work with other agencies including ‘blue light’ and civic services. These are all factors that demand an assured level of energy supply, making the new system vital to the security of the site.”

Ian MacVicar, managing director of Hover’s partner Task, called the Hover’s 36kW wind unit the final piece in Task’s decarbonisation project at the Royal Navy Regional Headquarters in Liverpool.

“With Task as Hover Energy’s sole UK partner, it demonstrates that two companies with the same vision on carbon reduction can truly take facilities of any size off-grid by combining Hover wind, battery, and solar with low-carbon energy solutions,” MacVicar added.

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