Community energy workers urge Goodlad to back multi-year funding
A GROUP of community energy workers and development companies in Shetland are calling on the Scottish Government to reform a funding model to provide more certainty in the long-term.
Writing to public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad, the group has urged the MSP to reform the Scottish Government’s community energy funding model to allow for multi-year financing.
They said the current year-to-year system creates unnecessary barriers for projects which would be alleviated by multi-year funding.
The group added that the upcoming Scottish budget should include provisions that allow for Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) funding to be awarded on a multi-year basis.
The letter explains that CARES funding awarded in the autumn must be spent by mid-March.
It said this forces larger projects into smaller phases which adds cost through repeated procurement and pushes construction into the winter months.
The letter also notes that while CARES funding is delivered on a strictly annual basis, a similar fund administered by Great British Energy works on a multi-year basis – as did the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund.
Joanne Jamieson from the Sandwick Social and Economic Development Company said: “Longer-term, and ideally multi-year, funding is a small change that would be transformative for our community projects and for so many other groups, not just in Shetland but across Scotland.
“Our trustees urge the minister to do everything in her power to make that change a reality. ”
Tyst Hertoghs, who is a community energy development officer at Bressay Development Limited, said: “Community energy projects of all sizes often take several years to go from an initial idea to delivery and they need time, continuity and certainty to get there.
“Moving CARES to multi-year funding would make it a far more effective tool for growing community energy across Shetland and Scotland.”
The letter was also signed by representatives of community groups in North Yell, Northmavine, Scalloway, North Yell, Gulberwick/Quarff/Cunningsburgh, Sandness and Levenwick.
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The letter to Goodlad, who is also Shetland’s MSP, said the isles have a “strong history of community-owned renewable energy” – highlighting in particular North Yell Development Council’s Garth wind farm.
The Scottish Government says its CARES scheme provides funding, advice and practical support to help communities turn low-carbon and renewable energy ambitions into successful projects.
It is administered by Local Energy Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Scottish energy minister Stephen Gethins said earlier this year while on a visit to Shetland that CARES has “already delivered over £83 million to communities across Scotland, supporting more than 1,200 projects and 75MW of renewable energy capacity”.
More information on the scheme can be found here.
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