Communities across the UK are being offered a share of £30m in new government funding to build their own solar panels and other clean energy projects.
Great British Energy launched the funding on Thursday 17 September as the first wave of the government’s Local Power Plan, which has up to £1bn earmarked for locally owned renewable energy projects.
Community groups and councils will be able to use the money to develop projects ranging from solar panels on local buildings to community-owned wind turbines and hydro schemes. The wider programme aims to support more than 1,000 local and community-led clean energy projects by 2030.
However, despite solar panels being among the technologies covered, it’s important to note that this isn’t a new solar panel grant that individual homeowners can apply for.
Households looking for financial help towards installing panels on their own property will instead need to explore the existing solar panel grants and funding, such as ECO4 and local authority schemes.
Read more: Solar panel grants in the UK explained
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What is the new £30m community energy fund?
The biggest part of the package is a new £20m Community Fund, which will provide grants to community organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The money can be used to test, develop and build community-owned clean energy assets, including solar, wind and hydro projects.
To qualify, projects must give the community a defined legal and financial interest and ensure that a defined proportion of the benefits stays within the local area.
A further £5m Partnerships Grant will help councils in England work with community energy organisations on joint projects.
Scotland will receive £1.8m through its existing Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), while Great British Energy is providing up to £2.9m for organisations offering advice to community groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Applications for the new grants opened on 17 September.
Can homeowners apply for the funding?
Individual homeowners cannot apply for money from the £30m package to put solar panels on their own roof. Instead, the funding is designed to create renewable energy assets owned by community groups or local authorities.
That means the financial benefit to households is less direct than with schemes such as ECO4, which can help eligible households fund energy-efficiency improvements and, in some cases, solar panels.
The government says community projects could instead reduce energy costs for facilities such as libraries, schools and leisure centres, while income generated from electricity can be reinvested locally.
Depending on how an individual project is structured, revenue could also be used for measures such as helping households in fuel poverty or funding other community services.
Could community solar cut energy bills?
There is already some evidence of the savings public buildings could make from locally generated solar electricity.
Great British Energy has previously provided up to £16m to Mayoral Combined Authorities in England, helping install 157 rooftop solar projects on buildings including fire stations and leisure centres.
The government says those and further renewable projects could collectively generate up to £50m in energy bill savings, with the money available to be reinvested in local services.
That figure shouldn’t be confused with savings on individual household energy bills, though. How residents benefit will depend on the ownership and financial model used by each community project.
The £30m announced this week is only the first part of the government’s wider Local Power Plan. Great British Energy has committed up to £1bn over the programme, with the ambition that every UK community should have the opportunity to own a local energy project by 2030.
“Our vision is that every community should have the chance to build and own its own renewable energy,” said CEO of Great British Energy Dan McGrail. “These grants will give community organisations and local authorities the practical support they need to get clean energy projects off the ground – lowering bills, supporting jobs and putting the benefits from energy into local hands.
The government also says it will publish more details this autumn on proposals that would allow community energy groups to take ownership stakes in larger commercial renewable energy projects, enabling a share of their proceeds to remain in the areas where the energy is generated.
