Communities across Wales will receive a funding boost to build on and control their own clean energy supply in a bid to cut bills, grow local wealth and tackle climate change.
The financing follows Great British (GB) Energy’s announcement that it will provide £30 million to invest into community projects. This is the biggest public investment into community energy in UK history.
The programme is expected to build on Wales’ existing commitment to the cause through the Welsh Government Energy Service.
The money will be used towards solar panels on buildings, village-owned wind farms and hydro schemes in rivers. Projects such as these will be owned by community groups and the government say they are designed to put money into the pockets of locals, not just energy companies.
Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said: “Everyone deserves a stake in our energy future and through these local power projects, communities can reap the full benefits of clean energy – reducing emissions, cutting bills and reinvesting profits to benefit local areas, instead of big energy companies.”
The government say that this programme will bring the UK inline with countries such as Germany and Denmark, where this approach is already widely used.
