Meeting of the Parliament 27 May 2025
It is the essence of community wealth building and community empowerment that local authorities work with those in their communities who want to take up some of the opportunities in community-owned energy. I know that a lot of councils have dedicated officials, particularly in the community empowerment space, who will be able to assist. CARES is also a vital resource and, as I have said, the Local Energy Scotland website has named individuals for each area, and communities can contact them by phone or email. That has proven to be very helpful.
The growth fund pilot that took place last year supported a wide range of activities, including feasibility studies, securing grid connections, planning and installation and build costs. Arran Community Renewables received almost £0.5 million to develop its community solar project. CARES funding supported vital work on grid connection, planning application and project management costs. The project has now been granted planning consent for a 6MW solar farm, which will be wholly owned by the community and will contribute to a benefit fund for the island. Once complete, it will become Scotland’s biggest community-owned solar farm. It has been reported that it will produce enough renewable energy to meet up to one quarter of the island’s domestic power needs.
Another solar project in Wallacetown in South Ayrshire demonstrates the positive impacts that community energy groups can bring to the local area. The community identified three publicly owned school buildings in Wallacetown that could host solar PV panels on their roofs. CARES support has allowed them to progress through the pre-installation phase, and the installation is due to begin this summer. The project plans to generate energy that will be used within the schools that are hosting the solar panels, which will offset their energy costs, with surplus electricity going back into the grid. Income raised from that will be used by the community to help those within the community who are feeling the worst impacts of fuel poverty.
The project is also committed to community building and education. That began with Newton primary school, whose students designed the logo for the project. All three schools have had the opportunity to learn about the solar panels that will be at their schools, with photovoltaic kits provided. I imagine that quite a lot of the renewables engineers of the future will be coming from those schools as a result. Wouldn’t that be nice to see? The project has already been recognised by the University of Strathclyde as one of the community challenge projects, and students have undertaken a group project to support the development of the proposed plan for Wallacetown to be a net zero village.
That is what CARES is all about: supporting communities to participate in, drive and benefit from the energy transition to net zero emissions so as to see the real benefits of the renewable energy sector. We are determined to ensure that all communities, including the most rural, benefit in that way.