£10 million government fund announced to support local energy projects

A new £10 million government fund will open to applications in early Autumn to provide support for communities to set up local energy projects.

The Community Energy Fund will be available to develop renewable energy schemes for both urban and rural communities. It also hoped that the funding will kick-start additional investment into projects from the private sector.

The funding will support a range of different renewable energy schemes that are proposed, designed and owned by local communities. Technologies that could be supported by the fund include small-scale wind farms, rooftop solar schemes, battery storage, rural heat networks, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and projects to alleviate fuel poverty.

Minister for Nuclear and Networks Andrew Bowie said:

“Local communities are at the heart of our plans to boost our energy security and grow the economy. The Community Energy Fund for England will empower communities to do just that.

“With it, they’ll be able to drive forward innovative energy projects that will have a lasting positive impact, bringing costs down, building stronger communities, and securing clean energy for generations to come.

“Importantly, these energy projects could expand beyond local areas by attracting further investment from the private sector, in turn inspiring other communities to power their area with energy from England.”

The Community Energy Fund follows on from the success for the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) and expands its remit to urban, as well as rural, areas. Local schemes to have benefited from RCEF include Congleton Hydro, which generates electricity from a weir in the Cheshire town to generate enough energy to power around 60 homes and raise a further £5,000 annually to be reinvested in other community projects.