MORE is need to deliver a fair energy deal for Scottish communities, a coalition of community organisations has said.
It comes as the Scottish Government launched a consultation to review community benefits of clear energy developments after repeated calls for an update to the amount recommended.
Since 2014, the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles have recommended a voluntary payment from developers to communities of £5000 per megawatt, per year, for onshore renewables. This figure has not increased with inflation.
In a report published by The Scottish Coalition on Community Energy, the group urged the Scottish Government to increase the "good practice benchmark".
The group is made up of charitable organisations from the community sector: Community Energy Scotland, Development Trusts Association Scotland, Community Land Scotland and Scottish Communities Finance.
For onshore wind, it was suggested £7300 per Megawatt per year, plus additional payments to bring the total to at least 2.5% of the developer’s revenue from the project.
Different benchmarks could be set for offshore wind, hydro and solar, and for storage and grid projects, given the different business models and expected returns.
The coalition are also calling on the UK Government to make community benefit payments mandatory for all clean energy projects, including energy storage and transmission.
Amanda Grimm, policy manager at Community Energy Scotland, said: “We warmly welcome the Scottish Government’s consultation on community benefits Good Practice Principles. Community benefits are an investment in thriving communities and our energy future. They’ve already had a transformational impact, with millions of pounds from onshore wind going straight to local communities.
“But the benchmark has not been updated for over a decade, despite sky-high inflation in the rest of the economy and technology improvements which have increased to developer profit. It’s high time for an ambitious upgrade of good practice.
“We are all funding the energy transition through our energy bills, and yet far too many communities are struggling with fuel poverty, even – and sometimes especially – those that host renewables right on their doorstep.
"A just transition means sharing more of the wealth being generated by Scotland’s natural resources.”
