Community Energy:Evidence Review

Kevin Gornall and Fraser MacleodLast updated August 2015

DECC evidence review: Summary of key findings

DECC Commissioned studies have given general insight into the size, scope and experiences of the UK community energy sector. This slide pack summarises some key findings from DECC and other sector research. It is not an exhaustive review and we are committed to working with the sector to continually build our evidence base. Please contact fraser.macleod@decc.gsi.gov.uk if you know of other studies not represented here that may contribute to our understanding.

• Estimates suggest that there are over 5,000 community energy groups active in generating, managing, purchasing and reducing energy.

• Evidence of the impacts of Community Energy (CE) at a national level is limited but modelling of community led solar PV, onshore wind and hydro projects estimates they offer between 12-13 times as much community value re-invested back into local areas as would be achieved through 100% commercial models.

• Case studies from the Evaluation of Low Carbon Communities programme shows community led approaches can improve uptake of energy efficiency measures and encourage behaviour changes to reduce energy consumption, as well as enabling renewable energy production.

• The Big Energy Saving Network evaluation suggests community groups can act as trusted intermediaries to engage vulnerable groups about household energy bills and encourage energy efficiency actions.

• Research on the sector in Scotland suggests community led approaches to renewable energy development gain more public support through public involvement in decisions in the siting of infrastructure and can move more quickly through the planning consent process.

• Challenges to growing the sector include a lack of expertise, funding and resources at local level. 2 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

The Community Energy Strategy

The Community Energy Strategy (CES) set out the role that communities can play in helping to meet the UK’s energy and climate change challenges, through generating renewable electricity and heat, reducing energy use, and balancing supply and demand. DECC has, over the last few years, commissioned a number of programmes in this area:

1. Community Energy Efficiency Outreach Programme 2. Low Carbon Communities Challenge (LCCC) initiative 3. Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF) 4. Local Authority Funding Competition 5. Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) (led by Defra)6. Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF) 7. Community Energy Saving Competition 8. Grant to Bristol City Council for a Local Authority Best Practice programme.

In early 2015, the Community Energy Strategy Update was published, iterating a need to build a robust evidence for future community energy policy. Subsequently, a range of research has been commissioned to evaluate the projects commissioned under the CES and assess the current state of CE. (See references for a list of reports from these research programmes)

3 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

The scale of Community Energy sector

What do we know about the scale of community energy projects?• Estimates suggest there are over 5,000 community energy groups active in generating, managing,

purchasing and reducing energy. However, little complete empirical data sets exist with a number of only ‘partial databases’, which are based on small numbers that focus on a particular type of activity (DECC, 2014A).

• Evidence suggests that a substantial number of new community groups have entered the sector in the last three years (DECC, 2014A).

• Community activity appears to be particularly prevalent in Scotland and South West England. (DECC, 2014A).

• Analysis of the UK sector found 59% of community groups were situated in urban areas with 41% being located in rural areas. The prevalence of community energy groups located in rural areas is greater per head of population. Approximately 18% of the population in England reside in rural areas (DECC, 2014A).

• Independent modelling suggests that the community energy sector could deliver 3GW of solar PV, onshore wind and hydro projects by 2020, representing 14% of the total capacity of these technologies and 1.4% of total electricity consumption by the end of this decade (DECC, 2014F).

– N.B. This does not include generation assets owned by local authorities, town and parish councils, or social housing providers.

4 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

Enablers of success of community energy projects

• Research on the sector in Scotland suggests community led approaches to renewable energy development gain more public support through public involvement in decisions in the siting of infrastructure and can move more quickly through the planning consent process (Haggett et al 2014).

• Pre-existing community cohesion and identity can be a key enabler in the success of a project. A shared community identity often underpins (rather than results from) group action (Haggett et al 2014).

• ‘Trusted messengers’ can play a key role in giving energy efficiency advice. The Big Energy Saving Network evaluation suggests community groups can act as trusted intermediaries to engage vulnerable groups about household energy bills and encourage energy efficiency actions.

• The DECC Community Energy Efficiency Outreach programme utilised targeted measures, local community networks and ‘hand holding’ at various stages, helping fuel poverty schemes to achieve their target number of installations. (DECC, 2014C).

• Groups learn from each other. They benefit from sharing information about practical matters and technical skills, spreading ideas and enthusiasm, and seeing projects in action. Learning about failures is also helpful (Haggett et al).

5 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

Challenges for Community Energy projects

• Issues when applying for various grants and funding, for example:• Legal issues e.g. meeting state aid requirements (Low Carbon

Communities Challenge, DECC 2012)• Often not enough time for community groups to put together bids and

not enough time to deliver projects (LEAF evaluation, DECC 2014D)• A lack of additional sources of funding was a common barrier among the

LEAF supported projects who were unable to progress towards implementation (DECC 2014D).

• Evaluating the impact of some CE projects is difficult, e.g. campaigns to raise awareness. The primary method of evaluation in these types of projects is self-evaluation, which raises its own issues in validity.

6 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

Impacts of Community Energy projects

Initial impacts appear positive in most cases, but the evidence of these benefits is partial at present.

• Independent modelling of community led solar PV, onshore wind and hydro projects estimates they offer between 12-13 times as much community value re-invested back into local areas as would be achieved through 100% commercial models (DECC 2014F).

• The Evaluation of the Impact, Effectiveness and Success of Low Carbon Communities (LCCs) on Localised Energy Behaviours (EVALOC) (Oxford, 2014) also demonstrated favourable outcomes:

1. LCCs are contributing to energy and carbon reductions at community and household level.

2. The percentage reduction in average household gas and electricity consumption in LCCs between 2008 and 2012, compared favourably to the national percentage reduction over the same time period.

3. Other positive impacts included increased energy efficiency knowledge, financial savings and new skills/jobs.

7 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

Evidence Gaps and Further Research

What are the remaining gaps in the research? • We know that there are interesting and innovative approaches to community energy, but without a

common framework for monitoring and evaluation, their impact is difficult to establish e.g. the socio-economic benefits to communities.

• There is evidence of how much energy Scotland’s CE projects are generating, but updated estimates are needed for England, Wales and UK as a whole.

• Definitions of CE projects varies e.g. the definition of CE projects by FITs includes school, but CE strategy does not. This makes it difficult to provide estimates on overall size, capacity and impact of the sector.

• What are the profits from CE projects being spent on? What are the knock-on benefits for the community? How much of an impact does this have and how can this be measured?

What next? • DECC will continue to evaluate the implementation and impacts of our sponsored programmes and gather

evidence from stakeholder’s research. Including;1. Publish our evaluation of the Community Energy Saving Competition in summer 2015. 2. Continue on-going evaluation of UCEF and RCEF with Defra.3. Work with IEA-RETD to complete their research on modelling the costs of CE projects by the

autumn 2015.4. Work with the British Academy on their international case study research exploring the

cultural differences that influence community energy sectors. 5. Work with stakeholders to explore best practice guidance in the monitoring and evaluation of

community energy projects. 8 Community Energy and DECC – See References at end of slide pack for details of sources.

ReferencesDECC (2012), ‘Low Carbon Communities Challenge: evaluation report’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-communities-challenge-evaluation-report

DECC (2013), ‘Community Energy: call for evidence’, DECC: London https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/community-energy-call-for-evidence

The University of Edinburgh (2013), ‘Community Energy in Scotland: The Social Factors for Success’, The University of Edinburgh: Edinburgh.

DECC (2014A), ‘Community Energy in the UK: Part 2’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-energy-in-the-uk-part-2

DECC (2014B), ‘Community Energy Strategy’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-energy-strategy

DECC (2014C), ‘Learning from the DECC Community Energy Efficiency Outreach Programme’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/learnings-from-the-decc-community-energy-efficiency-outreach-programme

DECC (2014D), ‘DECC Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF) Evaluation Report’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decc-local-energy-assessment-fund-leaf-evaluation-report

DECC (2014E), ‘Local Authority Competition Evaluation Report’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-competition-evaluation-report

DECC (2014F), ‘Community Renewable Electricity Generation: Potential Sector Growth to 2020’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-renewable-electricity-generation-potential-sector-growth-to-2020

DECC (2014G), ‘Urban Community Energy Fund’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/urban-community-energy-fund

WRAP (2014), ‘Rural Community Energy Fund’, WRAP: Oxon. http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/rural-community-energy-fund

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References continuedCommunity Energy Scotland (2014), ‘Measuring the Local Economic Impact of Community-Owned Energy Projects’ Final Report, Community Energy Scotland. http://www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk/userfiles/file/stevens_uploaded_documents/Measuring-the-Local-Economic-Impact-of-Community-Owned-Energy-Projects-2014-pdf-logo.pdf

Claire Haggett, Mhairi Aitken, David Rudolph, Bregje van Veelen, University of Edinburgh Jelte Harnmeijer, Scene Consulting and James Hutton Institute Marianna Markantoni, Scotland’s Rural College (2014), ‘Supporting Community Investment in Commercial Renewable Energy Schemes’, Climate Change: Edinburgh.

Rajat Gupta, Nick Eyre, Sarah Darby, Karen Lucas, Laura Barnfield, Jo Hamilton, Ruth Mayne, Matt Gregg, Chiara Fratter, Bob Irving (2015), ‘Evaluating the impacts, effectiveness and success of low carbon communities on localised energy behaviours (EVALOC)’ Final Report, Oxford Brookes University and University of Oxford: Oxford. ‘Evaluating the impacts, effectiveness and success of low carbon communities on localised energy behaviours (EVALOC)’ Final Report

DECC (2015A), ‘Community Energy Strategy Update’, DECC: London. Https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414446/CESU_FINAL.pdf

DECC (2015B), ‘Monitoring and Evaluation of the Urban Community Energy Fund (Draft)’, DECC: London.

DECC (2015C), ‘Preliminary Results Report for UCEF, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Urban Community Energy Fund (Draft)’, DECC: London.

DECC (2015D), ‘What works for infrastructure siting in local areas: an evidence review (Draft)’, DECC: London.

DECC (2015E), ‘Quarterly Community and school Feed-in Tariff statistics: April 2015’, DECC: London. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-and-school-feed-in-tariff-statistics

DECC (2015F), ‘Evidence Review of Feed-in-Tariff Scheme (Draft)’, DECC: London.

Energy Saving Trust (2015), ‘Community Energy and Fuel Poverty Research Methodology and Preliminary Data Analysis (Draft)’, Energy Saving Trust.

DECC (2015G), ‘Community Energy Saving Competition’, DECC:London. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397514/community_energy_saving_competition_guidance.pdf

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