Great British Energy Launches £30m Fund for Community Energy Projects

Publicly owned energy company Great British Energy (GBE) is launching £30 million in funding for community and local authority clean energy projects across the UK.

The funding represents the first phase of up to £1 billion of investment in local and community energy announced through the government’s Local Power Plan earlier this year. Great British Energy aims to support more than 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030. The government describes it as the biggest investment in public community energy in UK history.  

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the funding will support over 1,000 local and community-led clean energy projects. The projects could include locally owned renewable generation such as rooftop solar, community-owned wind farms and hydro schemes, alongside shared ownership models that give communities a direct stake in larger renewable energy projects. Giving communities an ownership stake in clean energy projects means more of the benefits can remain within the local area, including lower energy bills for local services and profits from clean power generation being reinvested in towns and villages.

Applications are now open for eligible community energy organisations in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland through the Community Fund. Local authorities in England can apply to the Partnerships Grant in partnership with a community energy group.

The funding will help communities across the country develop and manage locally generated clean energy projects, with the aim of reducing bills, growing local wealth, and cutting carbon emissions. The government is aiming to grow community energy and strengthen ties between community groups and public sector partners. 

Local authorities and community energy groups across the UK can now progress plans for their own clean energy projects. The announcement follows a year marked by record temperatures and extreme weather events, reinforcing the wider drive to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions. By giving communities greater control over locally generated renewable energy, the government hopes the programme will combine environmental benefits with lower energy costs and greater investment in local areas.

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said:

“All of us felt deep concern for our climate during the record-breaking temperatures we experienced this summer.
Ahead of New York Climate week, we are putting power in the hands of people and places, so more communities can take action.
Everyone deserves a stake in our energy future and through these local power projects, communities can reap the full benefits of clean energy – reducing emissions, cutting bills, and reinvesting profits to benefit local areas, instead of big energy companies.”

The funding includes three main elements:

A £20 million Community Fund for organisations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to test, develop and build community-owned clean energy assets. The current Great British Energy guidance says projects must be designed to be at least 50% community-owned when operational. Funding is available in stages, with capital grants potentially reaching £3 million or 50% of the total project value. 

An additional £5 million Partnerships Grant will support local authorities and community energy organisations across England to accelerate the development of joint clean energy projects that will provide lasting local benefits.

Great British Energy is also providing £1.8 million to the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), building on more than £10 million provided earlier this year.

Further to this, Great British Energy is providing up to £2.9 million to support organisations giving advice to local groups developing community energy initiatives across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The Partnerships Grant is designed to strengthen cooperation between local authorities and community energy groups, giving local partnerships a greater role in the UK’s transition to clean energy.

Dr Matt Vickers, chief executive of Community Energy England, said:

"Community Energy England welcomes the Great British Energy Community Fund as the first step in the £1bn investment in community and local energy in the Local Power Plan. This will enable community enterprises across the country to deliver projects which will reduce bills, create a more resilient and cleaner energy system, and most importantly keep the benefits of energy in the communities where it's generated. The sector has long advocated for the new Partnership Fund so councils and community enterprises can work together to transform places."

The government also said it would set out further details this autumn on plans for community energy groups to be offered an ownership stake in larger renewable energy projects.

The proposals aim to create stronger partnerships between local communities and developers, ensuring a greater share of clean energy revenues remains in the areas where projects are built.

If implemented, the model would follow approaches already widely used in countries such as Germany and Denmark, where communities can directly benefit from locally generated clean power.

The announcement comes at a time when good progress has been made on existing Great British Energy programmes. More than 150 renewable energy projects serving public buildings across England’s Mayoral Combined Authorities have now been completed and switched on, with further projects to follow. According to the government, the projects could together generate up to £50 million in energy bill savings, allowing more funding to be reinvested in local services.

This follows up to £16 million in previous Great British Energy support for Mayoral Combined Authorities in England, which has helped deliver 157 new rooftop solar projects on buildings including fire stations and leisure centres.

The new fund will also build on Great British Energy’s existing work supporting schools and NHS sites with rooftop installations. The first 11 schools to install rooftop solar PV funded by Great British Energy are estimated to save £175,000 annually, with all 11 schools having a collective installed capacity of 945kWp. An £80 million commitment was made in March this year to support around 200 schools to install rooftop solar, alongside £100 million to support nearly 200 NHS sites.

Community ownership is already playing a role in supporting local assets across the country, including pubs, libraries, and leisure centres. The government argues that expanding community ownership into clean energy could similarly allow more locally generated revenues to remain within towns and villages. The government says community energy projects have historically been held back by a lack of funding, advice, and government support, which the Local Power Plan is intended to address.

Great British Energy published its five-year Strategic Plan in December 2025, setting out an ambition to establish a portfolio that will deliver at least 15 GW of clean energy generation and storage capacity through investment and ownership, while mobilising £15 billion of private finance over time from

Great British Energy funds committed between then and 2030. The plan sets out how Great British Energy will operate as a developer and equity investor, with the stated aim of giving the public a lasting stake in clean energy infrastructure.

Great British Energy chief executive Dan McGrail said:

“Great British Energy is continuing to put communities at the heart of the clean energy transition with the Great British Energy Community Fund and Partnerships Grant. Our vision is that every community should have the chance to build and own its own renewable energy. These grants will give community organisations and local authorities the practical support they need to get clean energy projects off the ground – lowering bills, supporting jobs and putting the benefits from energy into local hands.”

Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK, welcomed the government’s funding initiative:

"This new funding for community-led clean energy projects is an important step towards helping more communities take greater control of their energy and lower bills. We've seen first-hand how this can work through our pioneering solar sharing project in East London, which is helping a local school and nearby households reduce their energy costs, and through our partnership with The FA, working together to deliver England Football's Greener Game programme, where grassroots football clubs are able to reinvest savings back into their communities. With the right policy and regulatory framework to support local energy schemes, initiatives like these can be replicated at scale, turning locally generated energy into an asset for the people and places they serve."

The £30 million fund represents the first step towards the government’s wider ambition to expand community energy across the UK. If the programme succeeds, its impact could extend well beyond adding more renewable generation to the grid. Giving communities a direct stake in local clean energy projects could help keep more of the financial benefits within towns and villages, reduce energy costs for local services, and give people a greater role in the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels. The next test will be whether these initial projects can provide a model for community energy that can be successfully expanded across the country.