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What is community energy?
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What Is Community Energy and How Does It Work?
People across the UK are starting to believe that community energy is the way forward—and it makes total sense.
It’s about local people owning, running, and benefiting from renewable energy projects, instead of big corporations. It’s about giving power back to communities and supporting those around you. Sounds good, right? Let’s dive in and see what it’s all about!
Community energy is all about people coming together to create change. Citizens raise funds to launch renewable projects and use the profits from the clean energy sold (that’s where we come in!) to support initiatives like after-school clubs or local food banks.
What’s the end game? The goal is clean energy, giving communities more control, reducing carbon emissions, and delivering financial benefits to the local area.
Let's Get Technical with It!
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Individuals, just like you or me, decide to club together and invest in a renewable energy asset - like a wind turbine.
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This wind turbine will then spin and generate electricity, which will get sold or used on-site.
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Any extra profits are placed in a community benefit fund, so everyone who invested gets a share.
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The community energy group will then get together and decide how that money is best spent. Let's say its on heating people's homes.
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The community benefit fund would then be used to hire people to retrofit homes with energy-saving measures, like adding insulation and taking thermal camera images.
The more people who get involved, the more projects can get off the ground, the more clean, green energy is generated, and the better we can support our communities — talk about a fantastic model!
Why It Matters
As a country, we’re full steam ahead on transitioning to renewables, aiming for Net Zero by 2050 — and it’s amazing! But we need to avoid repeating systems that only benefit a few, leaving others behind.
Community energy shifts power and opportunity to local communities, allowing profits from renewable energy to stay local and fund projects that directly benefit the people.It's an active resistance against fossil fuels, a shift in power dynamics, and a movement making strides towards a greener, more equitable world. Feeling inspired? We sure are!
More in our Information Hub
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Supporting community-owned projects
We support over 300 community energy projects across the country - and yours could be next!