Great British Energy Community Fund
The Great British Energy Fund is not accepting applications at this time – please sign up to one our mailing lists to hear when the fund reopens.
The Great British Energy Community Fund is the first grant programme for community energy projects funded by Great British Energy – the publicly-owned energy company
Funding of up to £140,000 is available to help parish and town councils, community organisations, faith groups, community interest companies and even sports teams get started on clean power projects that benefit their local areas.
The Great British Energy Community Fund is a £5million programme being delivered by the five Net Zero Hubs in England on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Great British Energy.
The government wants every community in the UK to have access to clean, renewable energy.
By providing financial support for project development it is aiming to foster innovation, drive local energy projects, and promote energy independence.
This fund aims to:
- Support communities – by helping them to maximise the income generating potential of renewable energy and put this to work locally;
- Make progress against the Government’s target to increase renewable energy generation, and promote community-owned renewable schemes; and
- Promote growth and job creation – to enable communities to access the economic benefits associated with renewable energy schemes.
Stage 1 – Feasibility Grant
For those communities at an early stage of exploring the possibility of a renewable energy Project, and which meet the Fund’s eligibility criteria, this stage offers grants of up to a maximum of £40,000 to cover consultancy and professional costs for the development of a feasibility study.
Stage 2 – Development Grant
For Projects which demonstrate a good chance of securing planning permission and being implemented, the NEY Net Zero Hub will consider further development funding of up to £100,000 to enable more detailed investigation into the key areas of technology selection including:
- Investigating possible purchase of land (legal fees for example),
- Environmental impact assessments,
- Submitting planning applications and permitting applications
- Developing a full investment business plan.
The following organisations are eligible:
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation
- Community Benefit Society
- Community Interest Company
- Co-operative Society
- Development Trust
- Pre-Commencement Society
- Registered Charity (including eligible faith groups, sports clubs,)
- Registered Social Landlord
- Registered Society
- Town or Parish Council
Feasibility studies exploring the following technologies are eligible for funding:
- Anaerobic digestion
- Biogas heat network
- Bio liquids/gas/fuels
- Biomass heat network
- Electric vehicle infrastructure (publicly available, incorporating generation/storage)
- Heat pumps
- Heat pump-fed heat networks (e.g., heat zoning for a village)
- Hydropower
- Solar (photo voltaic)
- Solar (thermal)
- Wind power
- Battery storage
Technologies NOT on this list will be considered on a case-by-case basis and you should contact the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub for advice before applying.
The Great British Energy Fund is not accepting applications at this time – please sign up to one our mailing lists to hear when the fund reopens.