Communities urged to bid for £8m renewable energy fund

Communities across Scotland can now bid for cash to set up renewable energy generation projects after an £8 million fund reopened.

The Community Energy Generation Growth Fund supports local communities to install wind turbines and solar panels or develop other types of renewable energy generation, such as hydro, to meet local needs.

Successful applicants are also allowed to make money from the project, including by selling excess energy.

The fund, which has received £4m from the UK Government’s Great British Energy firm, is part of the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (Cares).

The Scottish Government said that since its inception, Cares has advised over 1,300 organisations and provided over £67m in funding to communities in Scotland, supporting more than 990 projects.

Kate Forbes said the project will play a key role in Scotland’s just transition (Lesley Martin/PA). PA Media

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Scotland is fast becoming a global renewable energy powerhouse, and it is vital that communities share in the benefits from this transition.

“This funding, for stand-alone generation projects, responds to the needs of local groups – has the potential to lever in significant funds for communities.

“It will also play a key role in our delivery of a just transition – supporting a greener, fairer future for Scots.

“It is also welcome that Great British Energy recognise the valuable role that communities play in our green transition and have provided support for the fund – helping to significantly increase the amount of support available to communities – and providing a catalyst for growth within the community energy sector.

“We will continue to work with our partners to grow the community energy sector to ensure that the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland, as well as supporting progress towards net zero.”

While UK energy minister Michael Shanks said: “This is our clean energy superpower mission in action – putting communities in the driving seat of energy generation and making sure people profit.

“Great British Energy wants to kickstart a community energy revolution, empowering our towns and villages to become mini energy producers and reinvest profits back into the local community.”

Chris Morris, from Local Energy Scotland, added: “We’re pleased to be building on the success of last year’s Community Energy Generation Growth Fund pilot to support more Scottish communities looking to take the next steps in their renewable energy projects and play an active part in the nation’s transition to net zero.

“Scottish communities demonstrated an appetite to develop new projects during the pilot phase and ideas taken forward include partnering with local authorities to install solar panels on schools, getting approvals for new solar farms and building wind turbines.

Information on how to apply can be found on the website.