This £1.5 million grant fund supports community groups across Scotland to develop wind, solar PV and other types of renewable energy generation projects.
The fund was open to project ideas that met the criteria and guidance below. The following are good examples of inspiring community energy projects:
CARES community generation video. This short film introduces some community energy generation case studies.
Radio City’s 2.5MW grid-connected wind turbine in Kilbirnie is currently being built.
Buchanan Community Hydro is a 100% community-owned 100kW run-of-river community hydro scheme, which has started contributing community benefits to local organisations.
This fund closed on Friday 28 June 2024. A list of the community projects supported is available in this news article.
To get the latest updates on funding and other CARES support, please sign up to our monthly newsletter.
Funding guidance - Community Energy Generation Growth Fund
Contribute to Scotland’s target of 2GW of community or locally owned renewable energy.
Help communities participate in, and benefit from, our transition to renewable sources of energy.
Support incorporated community groups to progress their renewable energy generation projects or project ideas.
This funding is to support community groups that are passionate about renewable energy and want to develop, own, and operate renewable energy projects.
This funding is aimed at progressing projects through development and/or construction stages in 2024/25. Communities with a clear plan for their project, who ideally have already been developing their project and can complete a significant project milestone by 28 February 2025 should apply.
If your project doesn’t currently meet this aim but you think you may be interested in funding in the future, please sign up to the Local Energy Scotland newsletter where we will share case studies and learnings to help new community energy projects.
Support is open to established and incorporated community groups, for example established Development Trusts and Community Energy and Climate Action Groups.
Developing community owned renewable energy generation projects, including wind, solar PV and hydro, including support for repowering where appropriate.
Projects that generate and sell electricity, either through a connection to the national grid or through a connection to a local energy user with sufficient demand.
Work to meet key achievable project milestones during the development phase of the project that support bringing assets to site for installation or, if sufficiently progressed, capital installation. Example milestones include submitting a planning application, full technical design, grid connection agreements and payments, land agreements, procurement and installation.
There is a small amount of funding available for feasibility studies and options appraisals, which will be allocated based on assessment of project progression and requirements.
This funding is not open to local authorities, housing associations, or businesses. If you are uncertain about the eligibility of your organisation, please contact us.
This funding cannot be used for biofuel installations or for hydropower installations that do not comply with Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament.
The funding cannot be used to fund first step options appraisals or feasibility studies, where you haven’t developed your idea sufficiently to identify a site or made contact with other parties involved (such as building owners or landowners for where you will site solar panels).
Unfortunately, we are not able to fund internal staff costs unless they are a professional advisor necessary to the delivery of a capital project. Applicants will need to identify staff or volunteer support to progress projects.
This funding is to complete a significant project milestone by 28 February 2025. Any costs beyond this date will not be funded through this funding round. Whilst you do not need to complete and fully install the project by this date, you must complete the agreed milestone supported by the funding.
If your project doesn’t currently meet the criteria for this fund but you think you may be interested in funding in the future, please sign up to the Local Energy Scotland newsletter where we will share case studies and learnings to help new community energy projects.
Grant funding is available alongside support from Local Energy Scotland’s technical framework consultants who can undertake work for you.
Up to £10,000 is available for options appraisals and feasibility studies. This budget is limited and funding for this type of activity will be allocated based on assessment of project progression and requirements.
Most of the available funding is for capital funding. Capital funding can be used for costs that support bringing assets to site for installation and can include submitting a planning application, full technical design, grid connection agreements and payments, land agreements, procurement and installation.
Capital funding can also be used for construction costs.
There isn’t a set grant maximum for capital funding and the intervention rate is 100%. However, applications will need to demonstrate value for money, and align with UK subsidy control guidance. Information on subsidy control is available on our website and further detail is available on the UK Government website.
Your project must meet the fund priorities set out above and all of the eligibility criteria.
Eligible organisations are:
Incorporated non-profit distributing community organisations, including organisations with charitable status, that are established and operating across a geographically defined community. For example, established Development Trusts and Community Energy and Climate Action Groups.
Some common community organisation structures include:
A minimum of three unrelated persons on the organisations’ management committee or board that are local to the area served by the community building.
Their area of benefit in Scotland.
Eligible projects:
The funding is able to support community owned renewable energy generation projects that:
Generate and sell electricity, either through a connection to the national grid or through a connection to a local energy user with sufficient demand.
Have a clear project plan.
Will spend capital funding – for example, where feasibility studies, and options appraisals are already complete. We will also fund a limited number of feasibility studies, where there is a clear pathway to future capital expenditure.
Will complete a set project milestone and claim funding by 28 February 2025.
Comply with subsidy control.
Applications will then be assessed on viability, impact from funding, and deliverability of milestones by the end of February 2025.
Impact – assessed through:
Potential to contribute to the community and locally owned energy target of 2GW by 2030.
Alignment with Scotland’s Just Transition Outcomes.
Potential for community income.
Deliverability (project viability and overall chances of project success) – assessed through:
Deliverability and completion of proposed milestone(s) by end of February 2025.
Ability to spend and draw down capital funds.
Plan for next steps for the project beyond the initial support provided by CARES up to March 2025.
Progress made on the project to date.
If you think you’re an eligible organisation and your project aligns with the funding criteria for the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund, you can submit an expression of interest (EOI) now, via our CARES project portal. If you already have a CARES project portal account, please contact your Development Officer.
The fund will open to full applications from 28 May 2024 and will close to applications on 28 June 2024. Only those organisations that have submitted an expression of interest, and been provided login details, will be able to complete and submit an application. To support project assessments, we encourage applicants to submit applications as early as possible.
Subject to full assessment and due diligence checks, decisions on applications will be available to projects by 30 July 2024.
We know that these projects can be challenging and take a long time to install and complete. The growth fund is designed to help complete a significant project milestone on that journey by 28 February 2025.
If these timescales are too soon for your community but you think you may be interested in funding in the future, please sign up to the Local Energy Scotland newsletter where we will share case studies and learnings to help new community energy projects.
