Community groups and town and parish councils across Cumbria are set to benefit from a total of £40,000 of funding to initiate or progress renewable energy projects in their area.
The county's climate change charity, Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), whose aim is for Cumbria to be the first county to reach net zero by 2037, have attracted National Lottery funding to enable community-scale renewable energy projects to go ahead.
The charity have produced a comprehensive report which explains what community renewable energy is, and details different models. It covers key considerations and challenges and gives examples and mini-case studies of a wide variety of existing projects already in existence across the county.
CAfS Low Carbon Communities Programme Manager, Molly Hogg, said “Our research and report gave us real insight into the help groups need to develop renewable energy projects in their area, and we’ve used that information to guide the support we’re now able to offer.”
Three levels of support are available, starting with 30 minutes of free advice. Groups can then apply for consultancy support, and subsequently two groups will receive a grant of up to £10,000 each to progress their projects further.
Molly continued "We’ve got experts experienced in delivering renewable energy projects in local Cumbrian communities on hand and ready to give advice from an initial advisory phone call, right through to obtaining grant funding to get projects implemented and generating.”
To share more information about community renewable energy and the support available, two free online events are being held. The first, primarily for local councillors, hosted by Cumbria Association of Local Councils (CALC), is at 19:00 on Thursday 29 June. With five expert speakers, this event will introduce the concept of community renewable energy, and cover the role of local councils, and also talk about the projects already installed in Cumbria. The event will also introduce the support available, including the package of support offered by CAfS. A follow up event hosted by Cumbria Sustainability Network on 6 July will recap on the support package and give attendees an opportunity to discuss community renewable energy.
Find out more details about the events and opportunities for communities via https://goto.penrith.town/Cafs-community-renewable-energy-projects
The support project has been organised by CAfS as part of the Zero Carbon Cumbria programme led by a partnership of over 80 organisations from the private, public and third sectors working towards net zero by 2037, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
One of the successful community energy projects operating in Cumbria already is the 30kW Killington Hydro one of two projects operated by Community Energy Cumbria with support from CAfS.
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