Scottish Community Coalition on Energy release a Manifesto for Community Renewables

The Scottish Community Coalition on Energy (SCCE) is calling for community ownership of the energy technology that communities host to be increased.

SCCE comprise of Community Energy Scotland, Community Land Scotland and the Development Trusts Association Scotland. They have issued a manifesto of six recommendations ahead of next year’s Scottish elections.

They write:

‘The UK Government plans to build the majority of new onshore wind capacity before 2030 in Scotland, but 53 community councils in the Highlands recently supported a joint statement calling for a pause on energy infrastructure developments, and 10% of Scots are against the development of onshore wind.

To build public support for renewables and the energy transition, we must enable and support increased community ownership and shared ownership of new and existing electricity and heat infrastructure, and fair distribution of the wealth that is being generated and consolidated through renewables.

64% of the Scottish public would support a community-owned renewables project in their area, compared to 40% support for a private project. This is partly due to financial benefit: on average, community-owned windfarms provide 34 times more financial benefit per MW (and sometimes more) to the local community than private windfarms. However, equally important is that communities feel a sense of control and involvement in the energy transition. Community energy projects drive sustainable behaviour changes and help ensure a just transition for all.’

SCCE claim that this analysis reflects what independent media representing rural communities as part of the Scottish Beacon’s Power Shift project report [The Power Shift: Investigating Scotland’s Green Energy Boom – The Scottish Beacon].

The Scottish Community Coalition on Energy’s (SCCE) six recommendations are as follows:

1. Increase the CARES funding package for community energy to £15m/year, rising each year. The Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) supports communities to engage with, participate in and benefit from the energy transition to net zero emissions. CARES offers a range of financial support to local energy projects.
2. Use public land to boost community-owned energy. When public bodies like Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) lease land for renewables development or repowering, they should prioritise applications from community companies.
3. Consult on amending planning legislation to prioritise the use of land for community-owned energy over privately-owned energy, and to ensure that onshore renewables and storage developments up to 50MW provide a fair deal for local residents.
4. Update the National Framework Agreement for the Supply of Electricity to allow local authorities and other public bodies to buy energy direct from community energy groups. This would mean lower costs for the local authority and a guaranteed income for the community group, retaining wealth in the community.
5. Support community organisations to lead on developing heat networks
6. Establish a Scottish Community Wealth Fund to equitably distribute a portion of the wealth being generated by Scotland’s natural renewable resources. This is a transformative policy that could excite the public about the energy transition, increasing buy-in and promoting a just transition, as well as providing finance for increased community energy ownership. This Fund would not be managed by the Scottish Government, but their role is to give the proposal their support and encourage or incentivise developers to contribute to the fund.

Scotland’s share of community-owned renewable energy is small compared to many northern European countries. SCCE state that in this context some of the proposals seem modest e.g. the proposal to increase the CARES funding package for community energy to £15m/year is a rise of only £2m. However, SCCE’s first ask is a target of 1GW of community-owned energy by 2030 (ten times higher than now).

The proposals give some detail and road-map for policy-makers to follow.