Great British Energy and the UK Government has published the Local Power Plan with funding of up to £1 billion for locally-owned clean energy generation projects.
The funding will be for projects, such as solar on community buildings like libraries, leisure centres and miners’ welfare clubs.
Great British Energy aims to support an initial 1,000 clean energy projects, helping to deliver clean power by 2030 while improving energy security. The projects will be developed and led by communities or local government.
Research has found that community energy groups play a key role reinvesting revenues locally, and that people involved in community energy activities reported feeling a greater sense of community pride, empowerment, and cohesion. Community-owned projects also can support more jobs than non-locally owned projects and can boost local employment locally, the government claimed.
Projects where GBE has already invested include £5 million for new community energy projects in England, such as 53 projects from solar panels on places of worship in Leicestershire, a solar farm in Wiltshire, and heritage buildings in Rotherham. More than £16 million has been delivered for Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England supporting renewable energy projects, as well as £21.5 million for community and public sector energy projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
There has also been investment of £255 million to enable over 250 schools, around 260 NHS sites, and multiple military sites in England to increase their renewable energy and reduce their energy bills.
People can express their interest in funding and advice on building clean energy projects in their town or village through Great British Energy. Direct funding, capability building, business model development alongside regulatory changes all aim to make it easier to deliver community-led energy schemes.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“With the biggest ever investment in community energy in Britain’s history, this government is saying to every local community: we want you to be able to own and control clean energy so the profits flow into your community not simply out to the big energy companies.
“By giving local people the chance to take control of their energy, this government is making a fundamental choice to transfer wealth and power back to communities across Britain.”
Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said:
“Our Pride in Place programme backs communities with the tools and funding they need so that community centres can be built for neighbours to meet, football pitches can be maintained for local teams to play, and young people can pick up hobbies and make lifelong friends.
“The Local Power Plan takes this further – empowering communities by giving them ownership of their own clean energy and keeping the wealth it generates right where it belongs.”
Great British Energy CEO Dan McGrail said:
“Communities are at the heart of Great British Energy’s mission. Local and community projects create cleaner, more secure and more affordable energy for our communities.”
Emma Bridge, Chief Executive of Community Energy England, said:
“The Local Power Plan is an important step to putting people and community energy at the heart of the energy transformation. We look forward to working closely with Great British Energy and the government on detailed investment and delivery programmes so that our members can scale this work as soon as possible.”
Zoe Holliday, Chief Executive of Community Energy Scotland, said:
“We welcome the Local Power Plan’s vision for every community in the UK to have the opportunity to own an energy project. This vision will only be achieved through partnership working, and the Plan is a public pledge by GBE and UK government to work together with each other, devolved governments and all other relevant stakeholders to address existing barriers and maximise opportunities.”
Leanne Wood, Co-executive Director of Community Energy Wales, said:
“It’s great to see the huge, untapped potential of Community Energy recognised in the Local Power Plan, with material commitments to make sure local people and places can lead a fair transition to a low carbon energy system across the UK.”
Ben Ferguson, Co-executive Director of Community Energy Wales, said:
“Our members in Wales are ready to grow their ambition with this support from Great British Energy, welcoming and supporting new and emerging community energy enterprises to participate in the transformative benefits of community ownership of distributed and democratising energy technology.”
Anne Ford, Spokesperson for Community Energy Northern Ireland, said:
“This provides a real opportunity to build awareness of the role that groups of citizens in this region can play in shaping our energy future and bringing more community energy enterprises to fruition.”
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said:
“Community energy has been at the heart of my approach to delivering cleaner, greener energy for Londoners and helping to cut bills. GB Energy’s commitment to supporting community and local energy generation through the Local Power Plan is welcome.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:
“This investment puts communities at the heart of Greater Manchester’s clean energy transition. By backing locally owned renewable energy, we can cut bills, strengthen energy resilience, and keep the benefits of clean power in our neighbourhoods.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
“This new partnership builds on the strong relationship we’ve built with GB Energy, which is backing renewable energy projects across our region and helping us deliver real change for West Yorkshire.”
Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, said:
“The transition away from polluting fossil fuels will lower energy costs and create good local jobs: the things that matter to our residents and businesses.”
Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said:
“We look forward to working with GBE to identify projects so that communities can benefit from this funding and enable investment in the priorities that matter most. I’m excited about the growth and opportunity this will unlock for our region.”
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said:
“Working side by side with Great British Energy, we can get more community energy projects off the ground, strengthening our push to be England’s first carbon negative region by 2040. This is the largest public investment in community energy in our history. It’s time to harness our region’s strengths to lower bills and clean up our air.”
Phil Witcherley, Director of Economic Growth & Innovation at the North East Combined Authority, said:
“This partnership with Great British Energy is a welcome recognition of the North East’s role as the home of the UK’s green energy revolution. We’ve already made great strides by installing solar panels on schools so they can cut energy bills meaning they have more to spend in other ways, like on breakfast and after school clubs.”
Steven Agnew, Head of Policy at RenewableUK, said:
“Supporting local communities to generate their own clean power will allow them to benefit directly from renewables whilst enabling them to play a key role in strengthening our energy security. As these new projects come online, they will push more expensive gas generation off the system, cutting electricity bills for everyone.”
Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said:
“Scotland has a proud legacy of community energy, especially across our rural and island communities. These projects deliver meaningful local benefits while providing an important contribution to our national energy security.”
Jess Hooper, Director of RenewableUK Cymru said:
“Wales is already leading the way on locally owned renewable energy, with the Welsh Government committed to delivering 1.5GW of locally owned renewable capacity by 2030.”
Mark Richardson, Director of RenewableNI, said:
“Community-owned and community-backed projects strengthen energy security and deliver skilled jobs across rural and urban areas alike. By anchoring investment locally, they help retain value in the regional economy while supporting apprenticeships, maintenance roles and long-term operational employment.”
Dhara Vyas, Chief Executive of Energy UK, said:
“Energy companies across the UK already work closely with customers and communities to deliver low-carbon solutions, and this backing from Great British Energy and the UK government will help crowd in private capital, giving investors and communities the confidence to go further and faster while supporting jobs, lowering whole-system costs, and growing the UK’s clean energy industries.”
Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK, said:
“Investing £1 billion to put solar, battery storage and other renewables into the heart of our communities is another welcome move from the government.”
Mike Thornton, Chief Executive of Energy Saving Trust said:
“Today’s publication of the Local Power Plan puts community energy at the centre of Great British Energy’s work to deliver clean power. The ambition for every community to have an opportunity to own or be involved in a local energy project by 2030 will give people genuine agency in the energy transition, directly driving benefits back to local areas whilst supporting climate action.”
Merlin Hyman OBE, Chief Executive, Regen, said:
“Across Britain there are inspiring examples of communities generating their own clean energy and keeping the revenues locally to reinvest in the places they care about. The Local Power Plan sets out a vital agenda to enable many more communities to participate in this way.”
Afsheen Kabir Rashid, Chief Executive of Repowering London, said:
“Finally, we are being heard after years of being side-lined. This is a welcome investment and recognition that communities have the power to unlock the UK’s pathway to a clean energy future putting money directly into people’s pockets through reduced bills, quality jobs and meaningful local investment.”
John Millen, a Director of High Winds Community Energy Society who lives within view of their wind turbines, said:
“High Winds Community Energy Society shows what’s possible when a community owns its own renewable energy. We manage five community owned wind turbines just outside Ulverston in Cumbria. This is the largest 100% community-owned wind project in England.”
Henrik Micski, a Director of Isle of Skye Renewables Co-op, said:
“Community energy projects such as the Isle of Skye Renewables Co-op demonstrate that community ownership in local energy projects can support a cost-effective energy transition, whilst ensuring that local energy projects deliver real benefits to those who live locally to energy infrastructure.”
Zach Wishart, a Director of North Lincolnshire Community Energy, said:
Since launching just three years ago, North Lincolnshire Community Energy has installed solar PV panels on 23 buildings across Scunthorpe and the surrounding area, the majority schools. Working with North Lincolnshire Council, we leveraged an initial grant and made the money go much further by raising over £1,350,000 from community shares. In the last three years we’ve saved our host sites more than £300,000 on their energy bills and expect this to keep increasing for years to come.”
Mark Pepper, Development Manager of Ambition Lawrence Weston, said:
“This is fantastic and exciting news. Now many more communities can benefit just like we have, by owning our own energy producing asset. But this is more than just providing us with our own sustainable income, it also gives us a stake in the energy marking instead of being passive consumers. It gives us pride of our place and helps us to do our bit to improve the climate. It’s a win, win, win. If we can do it, so can other communities.”
Phil Williams, Operations Director of Cambrian Village Trust, said:
“By generating renewable energy on our doorstep, we’re creating community wealth that people see and feel every day – from solar panels running our buildings and EVs to surplus power supporting wider networks.”
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