Local Energy Planning

In its decarbonisation plan, OFGEM has set out the need for network companies to work more closely with local authorities and communities in the development of local area energy plans to ‘identify the best basket of solutions for a particular area’. Some work has already been undertaken on local energy plans in Scotland under the Community Benefits of Civic Energy programme, where plans were developed for 4 pilot areas, including Barra and Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides. This process is now set to spread to other parts of the country

As the UK's energy system becomes increasingly decentralised with energy being generated close to where it will be used, communities will play a key role in considering what types of energy solutions will be best to meet local needs. Community groups are in a strong position to lead on this because they are trusted organisations. This trust means they are better placed to encourage collaboration at a local level and build strong partnerships with stakeholders such as local authorities and DNOs.

Community-led energy planning uses a whole systems approach which takes into account power, heat, transport, energy efficiency and energy storage, and enables the local community to consider its existing and future energy needs in order to identify priorities for action.

To learn more about how your community could go about developing an energy plan, read Local Energy Scotland’s guide to developing local energy plans. To learn more about the whole systems approach as well as read about pilot projects which have adopted this, the Delivering Community Benefits of Civic Energy (COBEN) project is a good place to start. COBEN project local energy plans which are available to read include Brae, Drumnadrochit, Barra and Vatersay, and Oban.

You may also be interested to learn more about the Energy Systems Catapult Local Area Energy Planning guide, and gain insights from 3 pilot areas who utilised their local area planning approach.

Local Energy Plans

In its decarbonisation plan, OFGEM also sets out the need for network companies to work more closely with local authorities and communities in the development of local area energy plans to ‘identify the best basket of solutions for a particular area’. Some work has already been undertaken on local energy plans in Scotland under the Community Benefits of Civic Energy programme, where plans were developed for 4 pilot areas, including Barra and Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides. This process is now set to spread to other parts of the country.

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