A Westminster Hall debate on community benefits from renewable energy projects took place on 15 October.
In England, the previous government consulted on plans to take ownership of and update the Community Benefits Protocol for England, which was developed by the trade body RenewableUK, and covered onshore wind farms. The existing protocol recommended developers should offer packages or in-kind benefits of £5,000 per megawatt of installed capacity, per year, for the operational lifetime of the project. The government also carried out a consultation on community benefits for electricity transmission network infrastructure, which closed in summer 2023. This proposed a voluntary support package, underpinned by government guidance, for electricity network infrastructure projects, including any associated with offshore wind farms. The Labour government has said, in answer to a Parliamentary question in September 2024 (UIN 2077), that it will shortly publish updated community benefits guidance for onshore wind in England.
Download the report: Community benefits from renewable energy projects
The debate was opened by Angus McDonald MP. Read the full debate.
Michael Shanks, Parliamentary Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) concluded the debate: “On community benefits in particular, we are continuing—at pace—the work started by the previous Government to review how we can effectively deliver benefits for communities living near this infrastructure. We are looking at examples across Europe—we are not on this journey on our own; there are other countries that have been doing this for a very long time, and we are learning from that—and developing clear guidance on community benefits for both the infrastructure and the transmission networks. We will publish that in due course. Great British Energy’s role will be to build upon existing community energy schemes under way across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will build on that experience to contribute more where it can.” Read these excerpts in full.
The UK Government provides a range of support to help local areas decarbonise. This includes:
- the Local Net Zero Accelerator Programme
- the Local Net Zero Hubs Programme: visit Midlands Local Net Zero Hub for Warwickshire & West Midlands support
- funding for Net Zero Go, an on-line platform to provide councils with information to develop locally focused net zero projects
- funding for Community Energy projects
Parish and Town Councils have benefitted from the CEF, including Claverdon Parish Council, by £40k to explore community-led energy projects. See the Project List as at July 2024.