Since setting up in 2012, CfR has worked with local energy enterprises in over 30 localities from villages to cities to help deliver community energy generation ranging from solar from school roofs to one of the largest community solar farms in the UK. CfR have managed MW-scale renewable energy projects from business planning and feasibility development, procurement, construction, financing and operation. Collectively, CfR’s community energy clients have raised £78million of capital (including £17million from over 2,000 community investors) and will generate around £20million of surplus income (after operating and finance costs) to support net zero transition, fuel poverty and other community projects in their localities over the next 25+ years. Each year they produce around 50,000 megawatt hours of electricity from the sun, equivalent to the consumption of 13,500 homes. CfR’s contribution to the community energy sector has been recognised through CfR winning the 2018 CEE Community Energy Champion and Young Community Energy Champion awards and being short-listed for CEE community energy finance award and 2018 and 2019 REA awards. In 2020 CfR was listed in the Natwest SE100 index of top UK social enterprises. As a Community Interest Company (CIC), any surplus made by CfR is re-invested in supporting further community energy projects.

CfR develops, finances and manages megawatt-scale solar and wind projects which are run for the benefit their local communities. We work with community enterprises, landowners, councils and charities who share our values. Our services include:

• Local energy enterprise set-up and business planning.
• Project development (including site finding and feasibility assessments, planning consent, landowner engagement, grid connection, power purchase strategy and construction and operations contractor procurement).
• Working with project developers to develop community ownership and joint venture models.
• Managing the purchase of development-stage and operational projects from commercial developers into local community ownership.
• Raising construction and long-term finance from commercial banks, social investors and community share / bond offers.
• Ongoing company and asset management.
• Developing and implementing business models to help our clients deploy their surplus income, innovate and grow their local energy enterprises beyond their ‘anchor asset’ solar farm.

CfR’s vision for technological transition is one broadly shared by many in Government and business: a low carbon energy infrastructure based on distributed renewable energy generation, energy storage and smart technologies, electrification of transport, retrofit of the existing building stock and high standards for new builds. This low carbon technology transition is well underway and will happen. But, will it happen fast enough and will it happen in a way which brings economic, social and environmental prosperity to communities, and minimises the potential negative impacts of rapid change? CfR’s vision is for the low carbon transition to:

• Be shaped by and have the consensus of the local community.
• To be based on a plan which works back from the zero carbon end-game and sets out the scale and speed of change required.
• Be led by collaborations of local organisations including local energy enterprises, local authorities, community institutions and businesses.
• Create prosperity through local green jobs, local ownership of low carbon infrastructure, and reducing and localising energy spend which is currently a drain on local economies worth around £2,000 per head of population per year;
• Be an opportunity for positive system change – towards one which makes capital work for people and the planet and redistributes the sources of wealth creation.
• Be realistic, with plans for the adaptation, mitigation and reconciliation measures that will be required under the range of climate change scenarios.