News from the Frontline (September 2011)

Community Renewables

Dear colleague

This is another in my occasional update on the lessons from my experience of delivering renewable energy on the ground for those whose meetings are in Whitehall rather than on Dartmoor - drawing on my experience of moving from the national policy world to the frontline of delivery of renewable energy, demand reduction and low carbon jobs as Chief Executive of Regen.

If you have enough in your inbox already please say so.

For those of you that haven't come across us Regen is the independent centre of expertise on renewable energy - based in the south west of England. We work to catalyse pioneering renewable energy projects with thriving local supply chains.

Despite the coalition agreement commitment to back community renewable energy, DECC's new Renewable Energy Roadmap gives just one mention to community generation and one action to maintain its community website and the issue doesn't appear at all on other departmental agendas. This is a missed opportunity.

Following a high level campaign led by Regen through our Communities for Renewables initiative (www.communities4renewables.co.uk), the Treasury recently published draft legislation exempting social enterprises from a ban on tax efficient Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Initiative Schemes investing in businesses based on renewable energy. This is an important milestone in the recognition of the potential of community led approaches to renewable energy and the opening up of investment - but it is just a start.

Tiree - a flagship community energy island

The Tiree community wind turbine (commissioned in March 2010) provides a sustainable source of community owned and managed income for the island of around £120,000 per year.
The income will be used to support key community infrastructure and services that would otherwise struggle for funding: www.tireerenewableenergy.co.ukhttp://www.tireerenewableenergy.co.uk

To meet our renewable energy targets cost effectively we have to get popular support

The south west is one of the windest parts of Europe. It is also one of the pioneers of wind farms with the first UK site at Delabole in Cornwall. Yet each new proposal for a wind farm faces strong opposition from a vocal minority. Unsurprisingly the number coming forward is falling as developers look elsewhere - this pattern is common across England.

The current toxic process of development slows down the development of renewable energy and makes it much more expensive - a cost that falls directly on energy bill payers. This affects not only onshore wind but has an impact on other large scale renewable energy.

This is despite a high general level of support for renewable energy. The message Regen has put forward on energy security and jobs has had an impact in the south west. We recently worked with Dorset on its renewable energy strategy and found even onshore wind had popular support (www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=164881&filetype=pdf).

Forcing through projects more quickly in the world of localism is unrealistic and unsustainable. We need an engaged population seeing direct benefits in jobs and local income to de-risk projects bringing them forward faster and more cheaply and build broader support for all projects.

Community renewables have huge potential

A community renewable energy project is one that is designed around the community's needs and where the community has proactive involvement in initiating and supporting it. This turns the traditional development model on its head.

Across the UK communities are coming forward that want to develop renewable energy schemes to provide secure and sustainable energy and generate income for the local community. In response to Regen's Communities for Renewables initiative over 20 communities have already registered interest and communities like Wadebridge in Cornwall are blazing the trail ( www.wren.uk.com)

However, barriers to progress mean that energy from community renewables is currently less than 0.5% of renewable energy - far less than in countries such as Germany. In aggregate, community schemes could play a much more important role in meeting renewable energy targets. But action is needed to release this potential.

Communities want to access investment to lead schemes - not just incentives to accept them

Proposals such as allowing communities to keep business rates from renewable energy, whilst welcome, do not address the control shift from developers to communities that is needed for many schemes to progress. Developers already offer community benefit funds.

Instead communities need access to investment and expertise to shape schemes and then to engage with the professional expertise required to deliver them. As part of a joined-up approach to supporting them the government should

• Focus social investment through Big Society Capital and other mechanisms for community renewable energy enterprises
• Build on the Treasury's proposals to reform EIS and VCT investment to provide tax incentives for investment in community led renewable energy schemes
• Provide specific support for community renewables in the Feed in Tariff

All feedback/comments welcome.

Best wishes
Merlin

Merlin Hyman
Chief executive

Regen SW
'Your independent centre of sustainable energy expertise'