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Community Energy: Scottish Conference on Renewables

Industry News, Renewable Energy
Posted on: 27/04/2017
Scottish wind turbines

The Scottish Government is rather keen on renewable energy. Looking to a future where the extraction of North Sea Oil and Gas may cease to be profitable, they are keen to explore the possibilities offered by wind, water and tidal generation of electricity. Holyrood are also keen that communities should benefit from locally-owned renewable energy projects. This week saw a conference devoted to the subject. With so many communities wanting to get involved, it quickly sold out.

 

Community and Renewable Energy Scheme


The Scottish government would like to see 2 gigawatts of renewable energy under community ownership by 2030. To bring this about, they have made funding available for local communities through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). Since 2011, CARES has been providing loans to help communities pay for the expensive pre-planning consent stages of renewable energy projects.


Benefitting from Energy Generation


Communities can benefit from energy generation in two ways. In the first case, they can set up energy generation companies that will build and operate turbines on land the community owns or has leased from a landowner. Alternatively, they can benefit from commercial operations that take place in their communities.


The Conference


There is an enormous amount of interest in these projects and Scottish communities are coming together to ensure that they receive benefits of renewable energy generation. Over 500 community energy projects are already up and running. The initial target of communities owning 500MW by 2020 was surpassed five years early. No wonder this week’s conference sold out – everyone wants to be involved.


Keynote Speaker


The keynote speech was delivered by Scotland’s Minister for Business Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse. He talked about the important local focus of Scotland’s energy strategy. Later in the day, Chris Stark, the Scottish Government’s Director of Energy and Climate Change was part of a discussion panel combing over the specifics of the energy strategy.


Connecting Companies with the Best Employees


At People with Energy, we specialise in recruitment for the energy sector. If you are a Scottish community-owned energy generation start-up and you are looking to employ the most appropriately qualified people to help run your project, perhaps we can help? Check out our recruitment services and see what would be the best package for your company.


For more information on any of our services, please call +44 (0)1502 564892 or email headoffice@peoplewithenergy.co.uk.


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