Britain’s drive for clean, homegrown energy is central to our mission to build an economy that works for the many. Today, jointly with Great British Energy, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published the Local Power Plan, which presents a new vision for community and local power.
We are sending the clearest signal yet that local and community energy is a priority and that it is central to the clean energy transition we must deliver. The Local Power Plan is the most significant expansion of support for community energy in our country’s history. Backed by up to £1 billion from Great British Energy, it will support at least 1,000 community and local energy projects by 2030, helping communities generate clean power and keep more of the value locally.
Community ownership is a proven tool for building local wealth, pride and participation, from community‑owned pubs and leisure centres to pioneering energy schemes across the Highlands, Wales and Bristol. This Plan is about putting communities in the driving seat of the energy transition, ensuring clean energy is done with communities, not to them, and enabling them to share directly in the rewards. It represents a historic shift in how government thinks about ownership in our energy system.
The Plan brings together four strands of support delivered jointly by Great British Energy and Government:
Direct funding and finance: For too long, community groups with ambitious ideas have relied on small, short‑term grants and have struggled to access finance. Great British Energy will provide targeted grants and loans from feasibility to construction. A blended Local Investment Fund will help crowd‑in private capital and ensure viable projects can scale.Capacity and capability: Many communities have the ambition but lack the technical or commercial support required. We are therefore creating a new advisory service and a “Community Energy in a Box” toolkit — offering templates, guidance and expert help for groups and local authorities to turn ideas into investable schemes.Business model development: We will work with industry to establish repeatable, bankable models – shared ownership, joint ventures and smart local energy systems – so that projects can grow without long‑term dependence on grants. These models will work in rural villages, coastal towns, city neighbourhoods and island communities.Policy and regulatory reform: We will work with Ofgem, NESO and network operators to look to improve grid access, simplify routes‑to‑market and support shared ownership. Community schemes have faced barriers too high for volunteers but trivial for developers. We are working to remove those barriers in all four nations of the UK.Since coming into power, we have already kicked off £280 million of funding, backing projects across all four nations – from schools in Oldham to community facilities in Blaenavon and Glasgow.
This additional £1 billion of funding from Great British Energy over the Spending Review period will help communities develop new projects, access early‑stage grants and secure loans or project finance. This includes support for shared ownership so local people can buy a meaningful stake in renewable developments in their area. This funding will help power community pubs, sports clubs, miners’ welfare organisations and village halls across the country.
This marks the beginning of a long‑term effort to remove obstacles to growing community and local power.
The Local Power Plan is the most comprehensive package to grow community energy our country has ever seen – building on our Pride in Place programme, the Community Right to Buy, and our commitment to double the size of the cooperative sector.
It follows the ambitious steps Great British Energy is already taking: cutting bills for schools and hospitals through new solar installations, building Britain’s clean‑energy supply chains through the £1 billion Energy, Engineered in the UK programme, and investing in its first commercial project to put the UK at the cutting edge of floating offshore wind.
But this future will not be delivered from Whitehall alone. It will be built place by place, community by community.
So today we are issuing an invitation to communities across the country: come forward with proposals for your area, and we will support you to help make them happen.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2026-02-10.hcws1321.0
seen at 10:26, 11 February in Written Ministerial Statements.