Windows of Opportunity 

18th December 2023

Community energy projects

“Are there public buildings in your community, like schools or sports clubs, that could have solar PV panels on the roof? Or do you have a natural resource nearby, like a river or a windy hilltop, that could be used to generate electricity with a hydro project or wind turbine?

That’s what community energy is all about: people coming together, taking action and using local resources to manage or generate energy for their community.” (1) 

“Community energy is about people and communities taking democratic control over their energy future, by understanding, generating, using, owning and saving energy in their communities, as well as working together across regions and nationally.

“The sector is ever growing, and includes a diverse range of projects, people and directions of work and activity. For a good introduction and summary on the diversity, size and benefits of the sector, we recommend starting with the latest State of the Sector Report. Key highlights from our 2022 State of the Sector Report include:

• 217,489 people engaged in the sector 
• £3.35m saved on energy bills from the latest activities in efficiency & fuel poverty *
• 143,000 tCO2e saved in one year of work done by communities ” (2) 
• Projects included in Community Energy England’s report include things such as car sharing  and  home insulation schemes as well as energy generation. At present UK legislation obliges community energy generation projects to sell their energy to the UK grid, where it is then sold on to household energy suppliers like Octopus or SSE. This means that prices remain tied to general energy costs, determined by fossil fuels. This legislative obstacle is being challengers by the campaign group Power to the People.  For more information on this see the Ethical Consumer report – https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy/what-community-energy

This Autumn the UK Government created a £10million Community Energy Fund for which urban and rural communities can compete to secure grants  for local renewable energy projects. (3)

(1) https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/how-community-energy-schemes-can-help-the-uk-reach-net-zero/

 (2) https://communityenergyengland.org/pages/who-we-are

A guide to getting started – https://communityenergyengland.org/files/document/672/1675676619_CES_CEEChecked-Top10toGettingStarted-Jan2023.pdf

(3) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/communities-at-the-heart-of-new-fund-to-boost-local-growth-and-energy-security