The government has (re-)announced some funding intended to help make it easier for community groups to develop community energy projects, writes Tom Bray. So what is community energy? What are they hoping to achieve? So what might this mean for your community?
Community energy, broadly, is a term used to describe when local people might own, organise, develop, invest in or take part in a renewable energy project in their area. And this can cover a wide range of different projects, through a range of different ownership and development structures. The idea being that energy generated in communities could benefit local people more than it does today.
So what is the policy? Through Great British Energy, the publicly owned company set up by the Labour Government to invest in clean energy projects, a set of grants will be given to support community energy, both developing schemes and helping fund them. Local authorities and community energy groups will now be able to access funding to build their own clean power projects and benefit from renewable energy where they live.
This could look like getting grants to help install solar panels on a local community building or school, reducing costs to run activities in a community. It could mean a community building its own wind farm on the moor nearby, or installing a hydro-electric generator on a nearby river. The idea is that local communities can build and own energy infrastructure like this, and then, rather than profits going elsewhere, these communities can benefit from its output for decades to come.
I wonder what you might imagine doing? Could you imagine a wind turbine on the hill near you? What about that babbling brook in the valley… could there be an archimedes screw put there? Do you ever see big south facing roofs and think ‘that would be perfect for solar panels’?
Until now, these kinds of projects might have just been in our imagination, or might have been developed by a driven community group over many years, navigating hurdles of regulation, and planning. I wonder whether this funding could provoke community groups all over the country to start something new.
I can imagine a local church group organising to fill a church roof with a solar array, being supported by a grant from Great British Energy, or a local sports club covering a car park in solar car ports, or a village hall installing a battery to ensure they are resilient if power went down, or a school fundraising within the community to put a wind turbine in the corner of their playing fields. The ambition for what communities can do obviously isn’t limited by my imagination! Or by what other people have done before.
Local communities know their area
Each community is different, and will have different needs and potential. And the potential of community energy might be that local communities know their area much more than regional or national government, or developers in office buildings elsewhere. They might see what could be done near their community.
In addition to this, there are multiple examples where renewable energy has been proposed near communities, where local residents are not supportive, even fearful of the development. A wind turbine impacting on views from a community, a solar farm changing how land can be used and limiting access for recreation. In the past, it may seem that renewable energy schemes are done to communities, not with communities. Policy around community is aiming to put power back in the hands of communities.
On top of funding, the government has signalled plans to ensure community energy groups are offered an ownership stake in a renewable energy project. There may still be private developers looking to build near a community, but future policy will mean that communities can partner with developers to ensure profits from clean power flow back into local areas. Rather than a faceless investor, the solar farm built nearby could be part owned by a local community group.
And there are already examples in the North East region of community groups coming together to do something around community energy. I think of groups in Horden who are to discussing how they might benefit from warm mine-water in their area and potential renewable energy investment in their community. I think of the Humshaugh Community Solar group working to develop a community owned solar farm in Northumberland. I think of projects developed by local authorities hand in hand with community groups to benefit local people, including projects like solar panels and a heat pump at Woodland Primary School, or the Paul Younger Energy Centre in South Shields providing heat to the local leisure centre and residents nearby. I think of conversations I was on the edge of in 2022 about a small hydro electric project at the Twizell Burn near Grange Villa.
Community energy could mean a range of things, I hope that this kind of policy and funding can help provoke something exciting all around the country.
I wonder whether you can imagine a project in your community that needs a bit of support to get going? Let us know below and have a look at the Great British Energy site for more details.
Tom Bray
Carbon consultant and columnist for The Northern Eco.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
