Community Energy Generation Growth Fund

It can help community organisations with grant funding, advice and loan funding to progress your renewable energy project. There’s support for early feasibility work, project development and construction. Your project idea must meet the fund objectives:

• Contribute to Scotland’s target of 2GW of community or locally owned renewable energy by 2030.
• Support communities to develop and be engaged in energy projects and the energy transition.
• Deliver concrete economic benefits to communities, while also supporting Scotland’s net zero ambitions.

Projects supported will need to:

• Install over 100kW of renewable energy, either at a site or over multiple sites, for example multiple building roofs (see additional guidance below in ‘Assessing you project’s eligibility’).

• Install eligible technologies including onshore wind, solar PV, hydro. Battery storage, flexibility and local supply arrangements can be included if it complements renewable generation and improves the business model.

• Generate and provide electricity through a connection to:
  • Sell to the national grid; or
  • Sell to a local energy user with enough demand; or
  • Power your own building.

Please note the additional points if your project idea is to:

• Power your own building – you can only apply if it’s heated by electricity, biomass or district heating and you’ll need a big roof or space around your building to install a 100kW of renewable energy.
• Improve an independent electricity grid – as a community group that owns and operates its own independent electricity grid because it can’t connect to the national grid you can apply.
• Repowering an existing renewable energy project – you can apply for feasibility, development and construction support.

Feasibility and development support will be provided via grant funding or direct support via CARES framework contractors. Grants and loans will be available for installation and construction. Funding can be used to help projects meet a key and achievable project milestones by 15 March 2027.

Funding amounts and example activities are set out in the table below.

Funding notes:

• You do not have to apply for a loan to get the grant. Any loan approval will be dependent on affordability tests and due diligence. It is expected that projects will need to refinance the CARES loan during early operation.
• Whilst you can apply for funding in more than one project phase at a time, your deliverability score will be reduced during assessment if risks associated with your project not progressing to the next stage are deemed high and/or not mitigated.
• Guidance on what funding can be used to match with CARES is available in the Additional Funding Guidance.

• Organisation eligibility checks can be completed in the CARES project portal now, and we’d encourage you to do these as soon as possible so that you can move on to the full application. The organisation eligibility checks must be completed at least a week in advance of submitting your full application.​
• The closing date for full applications is 30 June 2026.​
• Any funding will be awarded through a panel assessment process, once overall scheme funding and approval for awarding new funds is confirmed by the Scottish Government. 
• Approved projects must be completed and all funding claimed by the 15 March 2027. As planned project timelines can change, we encourage you to start your project and claim the funding as early as possible to allow for any unexpected delays.
• Most renewable energy projects will complete over longer periods, therefore applicants can reapply to CARES for further funding to continue their projects in future, but there is no guarantee that funds will be available or that further applications will be successful.
• Please note your funding isn’t allocated until you have received, signed and returned a grant offer letter.

Funding isn’t guaranteed and depends on available budget. Your application may be put in a queue or rejected if insufficient budget is available.

Applications will be assessed by a panel consisting of at least two officials from the Scottish Government, at least two Local Energy Scotland staff, and at least two external panel members. Funding will be awarded competitively, based on an assessment of the information in your application form. Please ensure that your application, particularly your responses to the four questions that directly reference the Assessment Criteria, provides sufficient relevant detail to assess and score your project against the application criteria below. Your application form must clearly provide details that allow to us to:

• Assess that your organisation is eligible – pass/fail. Please review the organisation fund eligibility check to see if your organisation is eligible for CARES funding.
• Assess that your project is eligible – pass/fail.
• Score your application against each of the assessment criteria set out below.

Projects that have received CARES development funds in previous years must engage with their Development Officer in advance of the submission as additional information is required to assess your application.

The first part of project eligibility is a pass/fail assessment.

The funding can support community owned renewable electricity generation projects that:

• Can generate and sell electricity, either through a connection to the national grid or through a connection to their own site or a local energy user/off-taker with appropriate demand.
• If the project is in your own building you must have electric, biomass or district heating.
• Have a clear and deliverable project plan.
• Will complete one or more project milestones and claim funding by 15 March 2027.
• Comply with subsidy control.
• Deliver 100 kW of installed renewable energy capacity. Applicants may meet this requirement through one or more of the following approaches:
  – A renewable energy installation with a capacity of 100 kW or greater.
  – A portfolio of smaller-scale renewable energy installations (such as solar PV across multiple local authority or community buildings).
  – A combination of renewable energy technologies (such as solar, wind and/or hydro) where the total installed capacity equals or exceeds 100 kW.
  – A continuation of a project previously funded through the Growth Fund, where additional capacity contributes to achieving the 100 kW threshold.

Additional guidance:

• Energy storage solutions (including battery systems) can form part of the project design but are not eligible to contribute towards the minimum 100 kW capacity requirement.
• Projects involving buildings owned or leased by the applicant should normally be progressed through the Community Buildings Fund, unless the proposed renewable installation has a capacity of 100 kW or above.
• Exceptions may be considered for wider community energy projects with a capacity lower than 100kW — including solar PV installations on third-party buildings, or wind and hydro developments — where applicants can demonstrate clear and tangible community benefit. This should include a robust explanation of how project income will be used to deliver long-term community impact.

Please note the panel will only review information in your portal application when scoring your project.  They will focus on your responses to the four assessment criteria questions which relating to the numbered criteria in the table below.

If projects propose to work with preferred or existing contractors for lower value works, for example feasibility, project management and development works, there must be clear rationale as to why this is appropriate at this stage, and you must demonstrate how you will achieve value for money.

For larger scale and construction works, it’s expected that an appropriate procurement exercise will be undertaken to test the market and allow a fair process.

In addition to the project eligibility above you must also check your organisational eligibility.

If you haven’t had CARES funding before, please go to the CARES project portal and submit an expression of interest form with information about your organisation and project so that we can check eligibility before you submit a full application.  If you already have a CARES portal account, you must apply for funding for your new project by submitting an expression of interest form in relation to that new project via your existing portal account.

There is further information on how to apply on our CARES funding page.

If you require assistance, our team of CARES development officers are happy to help you with your application.

We understand that community energy projects are challenging, and a degree of flexibility is required to help projects progress. We want to make sure that CARES funding can support community organisations to fill gaps, support a range of projects and address project challenges outside of the timings of the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund.

The CARES Resilience Fund will be open to applications once the Scottish Government is able to make funding decisions following the elections in May. You can apply if your project meets the guidance for the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund and you can evidence an urgent deadline for funding to keep your project on track, and where you have an existing CARES award and Local Energy Scotland has confirmed it should be managed through the Resilience Fund rather than a change process.