CfR welcomes the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Barriers to Community Energy Projects call for evidence.

Local ownership of generation is a means to an end of towns, villages and cities having well-resourced local energy enterprises working to support their locality’s net zero transition including tackling retrofit and fuel poverty. This is an efficient use of capital: Surplus revenue from large-scale investable projects is recycled into harder to finance low carbon measures and supporting local energy enterprises which have the local knowledge, trust and engagement needed to deliver them. Locally-owned generation is the source of £ and kWh for a ‘functional local energy ecosystem.’

CfR’s response calls for a holistic set of policies that support communities to generate their own energy including:

• A community ‘right to connect’ to their local grids

• An accessible and scalable local supply framework for community-owned generation, underpinned by a viable minimum export price

• A community ‘right to buy’ a minimum 20% stake in renewable energy projects over 5MW, supported by a robust shared ownership framework with positive incentives for both communities and commercial developers

• Lifting the ban on onshore wind in England and supporting community-owned wind turbines

CfR believes policy measures which support a mainstream role for locally-owned generation would be good for the sector as a whole. We can have a thriving renewable energy industry based on local ownership. In doing so we can turn energy from being a drain on local economies to a benefit to local economies.

To read CfR’s full submission to the DESNEZ Barriers to Community Energy Projects call for evidence, please click here.