Community Energy Schemes Could Power 2.2 Million Homes by 2030

Community renewable energy schemes could generate 5.3GW of electricity and power 2.2 million homes by 2030—if the government provides appropriate backing.

Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) is urging the government to “kickstart” the community energy revolution with national and regional funding for schemes and additional support and resources for communities which want to launch their own projects.

A national community energy strategy could boost the number of community energy schemes from several hundred today to 4,000 by the end of the decade, a report from SPEN and WPI Economics has suggested. That growth would support over 1,000 jobs and inject £1.8 billion into the UK’s regional economies, while keeping 2.5 million tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere.

The distribution network itself is launching an educational toolkit to help communities get schemes off the ground and connected to the grid.

Frank Mitchell, chief executive of SPEN, said the report showed “just how much potential there is within our communities in our drive to a zero-carbon future, lowering emissions with the additional benefit of driving up skills and jobs across the UK.”

The government should also learn from existing successful community schemes and local energy support organisations, particularly in Scotland and Wales, he said.

“The report also shows what might be possible by highlighting the innovative efforts of communities—notably in Scotland and Wales—where sustained government support and a strong backing from third sector organisations has enabled local energy to lead the way, not only in a UK context but internationally as well.

“But we’ve only just scratched the surface. Communities across the UK increasingly want to generate their own, low carbon power. As the provider of the energy networks that make this possible, SP Energy Networks is committed to doing more. But we need government and regulators to allow us to do so,” he added.

In 2018, community energy schemes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland offered 168 MW of electricity generation capacity, primarily in solar panel schemes, and 1.96 MW of heat generating capacity, primarily from biomass, according to the latest figures from Community Energy England.

Community energy is further developed in Scotland, where the governments Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) has delivered £35 million to help councils, community groups, non-profit organisations and SMEs deliver more than 200 energy initiatives since 2013. Scotland now has more than 700MW of installed community energy capacity and is aiming to have 1GW online by the end of the year (raised from the initial target of 500MW) and 2GW by 2030.

Co-op Energy recently launched the first energy tariff which sources electricity exclusively from community energy projects.