Discover practical support and insights on our Resources page, inspired by the questions, experiences, and challenges shared by members and communities across Scotland.
Funding
Supporting your journey to secure the right funding.
At Community Energy Scotland, we offer practical, hands-on support to help communities turn their energy ambitions into reality. Drawing on our strong local connections, technical expertise, data insights, and trusted professional networks, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
While we don’t provide funding directly, we work alongside our members to identify and explore funding opportunities that align with their projects. Our experience means we can help you navigate the landscape and connect with the right sources of support.
Start exploring your options
Click below to access the latest information on funding opportunities available for community energy initiatives.
Looking beyond traditional funding
There may also be alternative finance options that could support your community energy plans—worth exploring as part of your overall approach:
- The Democratic Finance Scotland programme supports community and social enterprises to secure their long-term financial stability
- Foundation Scotland is an independent funder, working with funders, donors and philanthropists who want to support communities. They also deliver social investment support, a form of tailored blended finance comprising loan and grant.
- Social Investment Scotland have a range of funds and loans, including bridging loans and their standard investment stream
- Triodos Crowdfunding makes it easy for investors to find projects, and supports community share offers, capital raising from £250k-£10m and provides access to wide range of investors and bond offers.
Webinars
Dip into our growing archive of recorded knowledge exchange sessions.
We’re building a dynamic library of webinars—largely shaped by peer-to-peer learning—giving members (and those considering joining) direct access to practical insights and real-world experiences.
Each topic is driven by the questions, challenges, and priorities our members share with us. Over time, this collection will evolve into a rich, go-to resource—designed to deepen understanding across key areas and spark new ideas.
Catch up on sessions whenever it suits you, revisit key discussions, and gain fresh perspectives from peers and expert contributors alike.
Peer Learning
Learn from those who’ve been there.
One of the most powerful ways to build confidence in community energy is by learning first hand from others who’ve already navigated similar journeys. By sharing experiences, you can gain practical insights, learn from challenges, and discover solutions that work in real community settings.
We offer peer mentoring opportunities designed to support you at every stage:
- Energy Learning Network (ELN): for those looking to develop and strengthen existing energy projects
- Launchpad: for communities just starting out with energy-related ideas
Find out more and get involved
- Learn more about the ELN Peer Mentoring programme
- Apply for Launchpad mentoring at launchpad@communityenergy.scot
Being part of a peer learning network not only builds your knowledge—it connects you to a supportive community working towards shared goals.
What is Community Energy?
Community energy refers to the delivery of community-led sustainable energy projects
Community energy groups are formed when people come together to create locally controlled, decentralised solutions for meeting local energy needs. They are true social enterprises and other types of ‘more than profit’ groups that represent the needs of their communities and organise collective and locally-driven action to:
- Generate renewable electricity or renewable heat, or
- Reduce energy or fossil fuel demand e.g. through sustainable transport initiatives, energy efficiency, energy advice or demand reduction, or
- Have a positive impact on energy systems e.g. through demand side management, load balancing, flexibility or storage projects.
They do this to try to create a significant community stake in future energy generation, storage and supply, not only to address environmental concerns but also to share benefits across the community, engage local people on climate change issues, increase security of local energy supply and build local resilience. Examples of Community Energy include:
- Community climate action plans – click here for examples
- Local advice on energy use
- Insulation services
- Decarbonised heat installations
- Decarbonising local transport
- Active travel networks and related projects
- Community energy plans – click here for slide presentation
- Energy generation
Involving Your Community
It is essential that the local community is involved in community energy planning from the start. Building trust and resilience by being kept informed, taking part in discussions, brainstorming, decision making provides a solid foundation to develop and deliver community energy projects. The transparency and integrity of working in this way demonstrates an organisation’s respect for the community it represents and supports. Bringing everyone on board is key. Community Energy Scotland’s team can help as part of a funded project with:
- Our friendly and unique engagement approach
- A wealth of experience from all parts of Scotland
- A focus on inclusivity and benefit reach
- Diplomacy skills
- Facilitating and hosting engagement events
- Activity and data mapping
Navigating Community Energy
Whether you are starting out on the road of community energy, or developing your activities further, the Zero Carbon Communities Hub is a valuable resource for all groups https://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/zero_carbon_community_tools.aspx
The online hub has been created jointly by Community Energy Scotland and SP Energy Networks. It provides a wealth of information from engaging with your community and setting up an appropriate community organisation to energy planning. You will find useful energy facts, including how it all works, and information for those groups wanting to develop their existing activity.
Key points to think about:
- What prompted the desire for an energy project and what type of work would you like to consider?
- What benefits does the group anticipate from a project it might take forward?
- Do you have any funding in place or how would you hope to raise funds?
- Does the group own land or its premises?
- Have you commissioned (or do you intend to commission) any feasibility studies?
Further guidance for setting up your organisation and its governance can be found on the SCVO website https://scvo.scot/services/information
Planning Community Energy
Making energy plans for your community and understanding planning policy is valuable work even if it can be complex at times.
There are a number of community plan models to choose from, including for example Local Energy Plans, Community Action Plans, Local Place Plans and Climate Action Plans.
Local Place Plans have a statutory link to your Local Planning Authority or National Park Authority via its formal Local Development Plan and where planning officers are required to assess a community’s proposal in relation to it.
Any plans led by the local community can be a useful way to provide evidence for funding, form a current snapshot, and identify priorities and aspirations of the community. Through collaboration with the local authority, there is always an opportunity to push for the community-led plan to formally link to wider strategic plans.
Energy specific plans include Local Energy Plans (community led and not formally linked) and Local Area Energy Plans (local authority led and linked into the area’s Local Development Plan and LHEES*). You can find case study plans and a table of example plan types.
Watch our planning webinars below:
- ‘Planning community energy activity, and the wider community plans framework’, recorded in January 2026, with additional material from Dundee City Council.
- ‘Applying for Planning’, recorded in November 2025
Early discussion with your local planning officer is highly recommended. The officer will confirm whether you need permission and what type of permission you need to apply for, as well as what documents you should start gathering. This also sets you up for cooperative working in the future.
For activity that does need planning permission, there are two types of applications: local developments (up to 20MW, e.g. small solar array, heat pumps) and major developments (between 20-50MW e.g. solar farm, small wind farms, hydro schemes, battery energy storage)** Details on this and the formal planning processes are presented in the webinars above.
Planning Aid Scotland offers free, impartial advice to communities, delivers training on the Scottish planning system, and supports community organisation to develop and deliver their own plans. Communities looking for planning support are encouraged to contact them for advice.
*Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy
** These thresholds may be subject to change. You can find the consultation on changes to the threshold here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/onshore-electricity-generation-consultation-increasing-threshold-applications-under-electricity-act
Generating Community Energy
Communities generating their own energy from renewable resources include those managing community owned wind or hydro turbine systems – either supplying the national grid for income or directly supplying energy locally – are just one piece of the community energy generating landscape.
While supplying energy to the grid has more recently become a bigger challenge for communities, due not least to reduced financial support available and grid constraints, possibilities still exist for alternative ways to benefit from local natural energy resources.
Directly supplying local energy demand:
- Microgrids and local generation tariffs are two models adopted by some communities in relation to local energy supply.
Find out if one of these options could be the right one for your group here https://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/direct_linking_of_renewable_energy.aspx
Does your community own or have access to any land?
If you are considering generating energy for the grid or local supply, most projects require land for their delivery. Find out more about community land ownership here https://www.communitylandscotland.org.uk/our-work/community-landownership/
A Community Right to Buy is a pre-emptive right that allows communities across Scotland to apply to register a community interest in land or buildings, and to be given the right of first refusal should the landowner decide to put the land up for sale.
See the Community Right to Buy website It provides communities, who have identified a need within their community for an area of land or a building and have successfully registered an interest on that land or building, with the first option to buy that asset.
Does your community own any built assets?
Where community energy is generated by technology incorporated on or in an existing building and the community has a degree of or full agency over that building.
Any community interested in owning built assets should seek guidance from Development Trusts Association Scotland https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer
If you are planning to generate energy for the building’s own use and you are looking for funding as well as support, Local Energy Scotland could be a useful resource for helping with this https://localenergy.scot/funding/lets-do-net-zero-community-buildings-fund/
Conducting an energy audit of your community building might be a good place to start any plans for those just starting out on decarbonising their assets. Business Energy Scotland has a useful guide here https://businessenergyscotland.org/guides/energy-audit/
Community Benefits
While we will always advocate for community ownership, or at the very least shared ownership, of energy generation projects, we appreciate that some communities have limited options. See our partnership call to action for the Scottish Government in A Fair Energy Deal.
Where it is not possible to have direct control, or even a credible shared ownership relationship/arrangement with an external developer, we still see the value that any income opportunity can bring to our anchor organisations. With this in mind, we would advocate (and could support you to negotiate and set up) an “ownership-like” arrangement for potential revenue streams that may be offered. This tries to enshrine good practice, and the best aspects experienced by those who have their own assets secured, for example, a degree of certainty and continuity of funds which lets you plan your activities based on these.
If your community has been invited or could potentially receive financial benefits from a local commercial energy project, an appropriate community organisation will be necessary to manage the distribution of funds. Some of our members have years of experience distributing their own generated funding and we can help put you in touch if you already have an organisation ready to manage benefit income.
Community benefit and shared ownership is explained in a Community Energy Scotland document here.
If you are starting from scratch, please get in touch with us here.
You can also find more information here:
Community Shared Ownership
New to shared ownership?
Start with our Early Stage Toolkit—designed for community groups exploring their first project.
Join our Shared Ownership Peer Learning Group
The goal of the peer learning group is to accelerate shared ownership of renewable energy activity across Scotland by sharing experiences and strengthening peer support. We do this by looking in depth at a different topic each quarter to deepen our understanding of what shared ownership of renewables means in practice. Contact laura@dtascot.org.uk
Read more…
Shared ownership provides community groups the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project. It is defined in the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles as “any structure which involves a community group as a financial partner over the lifetime of a renewable energy project”. Shared Ownership is separate and additional to Community Benefit Funds.
Shared ownership gives communities a direct stake in commercially owned projects—offering real influence and long-term returns. While the journey can be complex, it’s achievable with the right support and persistence.
There are currently around 20 shared ownership projects in Scotland, with 140 more in early development supported by Local Energy Scotland.
Models include:
- Split ownership – e.g. owning part of a turbine
- Joint venture – owning a % of the whole project
- Shared revenue – earning a share of project income
Benefits:
- Local income and investment
- Stronger, more resilient communities
- Greater control and empowerment
- Skills, education, and awareness of clean energy
There are inevitable risks of course, including financial and investment, market uncertainty, partnership challenges, environmental concerns to name some. Costs and risks may be shared at any point in the process and an earlier share in the risk brings a greater share in rewards.
