Community energy UK news
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| Location | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 54° 42' 8.48" N, 3° 16' 35.67" W |
Stay updated and share the latest UK news on Community energy highlighting innovative strategies and community efforts at deepening the sustainability and resilience of energy supply via distributed community power.
2026
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Community energy needs support to win public backing for net zero, say MPs, thenews.coop (Jun 17, 2026) — The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee warns that the regulatory framework puts community energy at a disadvantage- ‘A share in the delight’: the people investing in the UK’s first community-owned solar battery, theguardian.com (May 08, 2026) — Oxfordshire’s Ray Valley Solar already generates clean energy for 7,000 homes, and is now crowdfunding storage to marry daylight with evening demand
- UK’s first community-owned battery site launches share offer, thenews.coop (Apr 13, 2026)
- Agrivoltaics – is it time for farmers to engage with the renewables revolution, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Apr 01, 2026)
- “This is just a thing that I plugged in, and I’m generating my own power.” Balcony solar on the rise, in US and UK [Reasons To Be Cheerful], Daily Alternative (Mar 21, 2026)
- Stopping gas dictating UK energy price could cut bills by £200, thinktank says, theguardian.com (Mar 19, 2026)
- Amid energy market turmoil, the people taking power into their own hands, positive.news (Mar 19, 2026)
- Plaid Cymru plans to share wind farm profits with local people – here’s how that idea has been tried elsewhere, theconversation.com (Mar 06, 2026)
- Open letter urges UK ministers to unlock potential of community energy, thenews.coop (Mar 04, 2026) — The letter is signed by 250 organisations working across climate, poverty reduction, community development and local enterprise
- Up the Energy Open Letter, communityenergyengland.org (Mar 04, 2026) — It’s time for Britain to up the energy on community power
- As abandoned mineshafts provide heating and hot water for Scottish villages, one energy era births another, Daily Alternative (Feb 27, 2026)
- ‘Magic beneath the surface’: pioneering geothermal plant launched in Cornwall, theguardian.com (Feb 26, 2026)
- “How do you build support for energy transition, through a scheme that structurally excludes the communities carrying the biggest burden?” [Voar], thealternative.org.uk (Feb 15, 2026)
- Miliband pledges up to £1bn for community green energy schemes, theguardian.com (Feb 09, 2026) — UK projects will allow local areas to control and profit from renewable power generation, says energy secretary
- How a London energy co-op is trying to bring power to the people, thenews.coop (Feb 06, 2026) — We speak to Giovanna Speciale, CEO of South East London Community Energy, about its work towards an inclusive transition
- A New Generation of Community Wind-Wealth, scottishleftreview.scot (Feb 06, 2026) — The Danish model demonstrates how Scotland’s communities could co-own wind farms, writes Calum MacDonald.
- Stop Climate Chaos Scotland reports on community ownership of renewables, and how data-centres might knock us off our climate targets, Daily Alternative (Feb 01, 2026)
- First of its kind ‘high-density’ hydro system begins generating electricity in Devon, theguardian.com (Jan 27, 2026)
- UK homes to get £15bn for solar and green tech to cut energy bills, BBC News (Jan 20, 2026)
- Power Shifting In Scotland, Alternative Editorial (Jan 11, 2026)
2025
[edit | edit source]- How solar panels saved this local community leisure centre, goodenergy.co.uk (Dec 19, 2025)
- Meet the biggest heat pumps in the world, BBC News (Dec 16, 2025)
- How abandoned land can power a fair energy transition, theconversation.com (Dec 15, 2025)
- Great British Energy unveils 5 year strategy to drive public led clean power and community energy, communityenergypathways.org.uk (Dec 09, 2025)
- The Power Shift: Lessons from communities already making renewables work for them, scottishbeacon.com (Dec 05, 2025)
- How heat from old coal mines became a source of local pride in this northern English town – new study, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- How Shetland Turned Division into £72m of Community Benefit, scottishbeacon.com (Nov 19, 2025)
- Flooded UK coalmines could provide low-carbon cheap heat ‘for generations’, theguardian.com (Nov 06, 2025) — Report says proven technology could benefit thousands in poor quality housing and help UK meet carbon reduction targets. Community engagement is vital, “In our experience, once people realise what value there is in the ground beneath their feet, they are enthusiastic. But many people, especially in less affluent communities, feel that things are being done ‘to them’ and not ‘with them’, and that breeds resentment and objection.” Prof Simone Abram, co-author and director of Durham Energy Institute
- The London solar project slashing bills for vulnerable residents, positive.news (Nov 03, 2025)
- Wind power has saved UK consumers over £100 billion since 2010 – new study, theconversation.com (Oct 28, 2025)
- Green energy jobs should help bring down heating bills, says expert, BBC News (Oct 26, 2025) — senior Welsh government advisor David Clubb says UK ministers plan to spend billions on "unproven technology" such as carbon capture, when the initial focus should be on home insulation to help bring down bills for the public
- Renewable energy investment should come from defence budgets, say retired military leaders, theguardian.com (Oct 23, 2025) — Former European officers say spending on low-carbon power would make nations more resilient to threats from potential aggressors
- “We believe our communities should be benefiting from the transition to renewable energy, not being left behind”, says Highland People’s Power, Dailt Alternative (Oct 22, 2025)
- ‘Much fairer’: all profits from new Orkney windfarm to benefit locals, theguardian.com (Oct 21, 2025) — Construction due to begin in 2027 on what is expected to become UK’s largest publicly owned windfarm
- Energy clubs offer chance to reduce electricity bills by up to 30%, theguardian.com (Oct 18, 2025)
- We need to talk about storage, backchannel1.substack.com (Oct 09, 2025) — The question about what happens when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow may be less a technical than an emotional and psychological one
- Funding marks step forward for community-led renewable energy in Scotland, gov.scot (Oct 01, 2025) — Community and Renewable Energy Scheme’s (CARES) Community Energy Generation Growth Fund will enable 46 community groups to install local renewable energy schemes such as wind turbines and solar panels, to meet local needs.
- Study finds that £416 of the average bill of £1,719 taken as pre-tax profits by the major electricity generators, networks and household suppliers last year, theguardian.com (Sep 17, 2025) — UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation – study
- Scottish Community Coalition on Energy release a Manifesto for Community Renewables [Scottish Beacon], Daily Alternative (Sep 12, 2025)
- "Shetland is ideally placed to spearhead a green transition... commensurate with net zero aspirations" [Democracy Collaborative], Daily Alternative (Sep 06, 2025)
- Energy users ‘could save £5bn a year’ if gas plants are removed from market, theguardian.com (Sep 04, 2025)
- The Pylon, the Turbine and the Black Black Blade [Bella Caledonia], Daily Alternative (Aug 26, 2025)
- Community groups call for locally-owned solar farms in Kent, BBC News (Jul 23, 2025)
- Shining examples: the renewable engineering marvels reshaping skylines, positive.news (Jul 22, 2025)
- “We need renewables to be something *for* communities, not something done *to* communities”—the Scottish Beacon reports on the “Power Shift”, Daily Alternative (Jul 03, 2025)
- Britons could soon install balcony solar panels in flats and rental homes, theguardian.com (Jun 30, 2025) — Proposals would enable Britons to save on energy bills and join millions of people in Europe who use ‘plug-in’ panels
- Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027, theguardian.com (May 01, 2025)
- A victory for community energy – Government respond with new funding and support, powerforpeople.org.uk (Apr 11, 2025)
- Scotland's largest fully-community-owned solar farm is given the greenlight, on the Isle of Arran, Daily Alternative (Apr 10, 2025)
- Power to the people: the rise of community energy, positive.news (Apr 01, 2025)
- Direct Access To Power, Alternative Editorial (Mar 23, 2025)
- Creating Community Wealth Through Scotland's Energy Revolution [Brian Connolly], Daily Alternative (Mar 19, 2025) — "why should society continue accepting profits going primarily to shareholders rather than communities?"
- Urgent action needed to harness tidal power in Severn estuary, say experts, theguardian.com (Mar 19, 2025)
- When communities own renewable energy generation, the benefits are enormous [The National], Daily Alternative (Mar 11, 2025)
- CCC: Reducing emissions 87% by 2040 would help ‘cut household costs by £1,400’, carbonbrief.org (Feb 26, 2025) — Themes that underpin CCC recommendations include “Implementing an engagement strategy”: stressing the importance of the government providing ”clear information to households and businesses”, including on the benefits of low-carbon choices, and “Supporting households to install low-carbon heating”: Government support is specifically needed to tackle the high up-front costs of heat-pump installations and other barriers such as “misconceptions”
- The former fracking site now tapped for clean geothermal heat, BBC Future (Feb 20, 2025)
2024
[edit | edit source]- 30 years of renewable energy: one company’s success story, positive.news (Oct 30, 2024)
- Profits from community windfarm to fund a million native trees in Hebrides, theguardian.com (Aug 31, 2024)
- Government states that Great British Energy will also work to scale up community energy projects – partnering with energy companies, local authorities and cooperatives to develop up to 8GW of small- and medium-scale projects, theguardian.com (Jul 25, 2024)
- Public backs move to green home heating but more government support is needed, research shows, theconversation.com (May 02, 2024) — "...in Liverpool, strong local identity and a feeling of solidarity led most participants to prefer a locally-owned system to private provision."
- Fuel poverty: as government support dries up, communities are taking action, theconversation.com (Feb 06, 2024)
- Renewables produce more than 100% of Scotland's electricity demand for first time, news.stv.tv (Jan 26, 2024)
2023
[edit | edit source]- Britain’s roofs can be a huge resource for solar energy, theguardian.com (Dec 22, 2023)
- Former fracking site could lead UK’s renewable revolution, theguardian.com (Nov 05, 2023)
- Community solar is set to surge in the UK, and you can have a piece of the pie, positive.news (Oct 23, 2023)
- Locals in this British seaside town could revolutionise green energy – if the government lets them, Rebecca Willis, professor of energy and climate governance at Lancaster University, theguardian.com (Jul 18, 2023)
- Pumping hot: inside Britain’s first heat pump village, positive.news (Jul 12, 2023)
- Rooftops can provide over half our solar energy targets, report shows, cpre.org.uk (May 23, 2023)
- Wind is main source of UK electricity for first time, BBC News (May 11, 2023)
- Why Britain’s rivers could be one solution to the energy crisis, positive.news (Feb 27, 2023)
2022
[edit | edit source]- The cost-of-living crisis is bringing out a lot of cooperative and collective innovation - especially in Wales, The Daily Alternative (Nov 17, 2022)
- Bristol's forthcoming solar-powered film studio will be driven by the biggest star of them all, The Daily Alternative (Oct 31, 2022)
- The tallest wind-turbine in England, built by a community network full of agency, in one of Bristol's most deprived areas, The Daily Alternative (Apr 23, 2022)
- How Stroud council is encouraging renewables in its Local Plan, takeclimateaction.uk (Mar 09, 2022)
- Who owns Britain’s underground heat? Answering this could help slash energy bills and carbon emissions, The Conversation (Feb 16, 2022)
- A startling UK map showing how much we use land for animal agriculture - and how much solar is crowded out, The Alternative UK (Jan 24, 2022)
News sources
[edit | edit source]- News, Microgen Scotland
News archive
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| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2020–2026). "Community energy UK news". Appropedia. Retrieved June 21, 2026. |