Guidance

Mandatory Community Benefits for generation

Published 4 November 2026

Factsheet relating to the Energy Independence Bill.

Summary

This measure supports the government’s objective to deliver homegrown clean power while ensuring the benefits of the clean energy transition are felt in communities across Great Britain. It guarantees that operators of new onshore wind and ground-mounted solar projects over 5 megawatts (MW) provide community benefit funds, or benefits in kind, to host communities, via a legal requirement to enter into a contractual community benefit agreement. These communities host clean power generation in Great Britain that can lower bills, strengthen energy security and support the transition to net zero. The measure ensures host communities receive clear, predictable and long-term benefits, backed by a regulatory framework, from the infrastructure they host.

Why are we legislating?

Host communities provide a service to the country, but the voluntary system fails to deliver consistently

To meet clean power and energy security objectives, Great Britain needs a rapid expansion of onshore wind and solar. Some communities – often rural, dispersed or with higher rates of fuel poverty – will host infrastructure that benefits the whole country, and should receive clear and meaningful benefits in return.

Community benefits are currently voluntary, and provision varies between projects and locations. This measure will ensure a more transparent approach, providing host communities with certainty and consistency of the benefits they will receive.

Community benefits deliver tangible local value

Evidence shows community benefit funds help ensure communities see tangible value from hosting infrastructure, while retaining flexibility to invest in local priorities:

• 58% of people would be more supportive of renewable projects if their area receives local funding^{[footnote 1]}
• comparable community benefit schemes suggest up to £2 of wider local value for every £1 invested

What are the government’s objectives with this measure?

Putting communities at the heart of the transition

Host communities are essential partners in achieving net zero. By providing predictable, long‑term benefits, the measure ensures these communities see tangible value in return for the national service they provide.

Supporting homegrown energy

This measure sits alongside the expansion of onshore wind and solar by providing a consistent framework for community benefits as clean, home-grown energy is deployed across Great Britain.

This measure does not change planning or consenting decisions. It ensures host communities receive fair, consistent benefits and therefore helps sustain local support for renewable energy, enabling low-carbon generation to be deployed at pace, reducing reliance on volatile international energy markets and strengthening energy security.

Supporting local growth

Community benefit funds provide long-term investment in areas hosting energy infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. This measure also ensures communities continue to have the flexibility to decide how funds are spent, allowing investment in local priorities such as skills, infrastructure and community facilities.

How will this measure deliver these objectives?

A clear mandatory requirement for new projects

Community benefit regulations made under this measure will require operators of new onshore wind and solar projects over 5 MW to enter a legally binding community benefit agreement with the local community. This will ensure the provision of community benefit funds at a minimum £/MW/year rate either through monetary contributions, in-kind benefits, or a combination of both.

We intend to set a minimum level of benefit based on installed capacity (£ per MW) varied by technology. Our minded to positions are a minimum of £5,000 per MW per year for eligible onshore wind projects, and £700 per MW per year for eligible ground mount solar projects. The required levels of benefit will be set in secondary legislation.

This requirement will only apply to onshore wind and solar which are mature, low-cost technologies with established voluntary practice and make up most planned onshore generation. Other technologies have different cost profiles or regulatory frameworks, or may lack a clear host community, which could risk viability or double counting.

A Great Britain-wide register will provide improved transparency and accountability in how community benefits are delivered across the country. It may also act as a tool for communities and developers alike to access information on best practice.

A simple, transparent system shaped by communities

A clear minimum £/MW/year level will give communities and operators certainty, while communities remain in control of local spending priorities. Existing community benefit funds illustrate how this can deliver lasting value.

For example, the Brechfa Forest Wind Farm Community Fund in Wales has supported projects such as outdoor learning programmes across local primary schools, employability support including CV and interview training, upgrades to community buildings with solar PV and battery storage, a community electric vehicle car club, and investment in long term community assets such as a community owned leisure centre and a bunkhouse generating income for a local hospice.

In Dumfries and Galloway, funding linked to local wind farms and managed through the Glenkens and District Trust has been aligned with a community developed Action Plan, supporting initiatives such as local food networks, community housing activity and childcare support.

At the Tirgwynt Wind Farm in Powys, community benefit funding was used flexibly and frontloaded to help finance a new local school building, preventing its closure.

In England, the Keady Community Fund has provided funding for a community kitchen, and initiatives for children, such as a play park and football equipment for the local junior team.

These examples are illustrative rather than exhaustive and demonstrate the intention to give communities flexibility to decide how funds are used to reflect local priorities, supported by government guidance on principles and best practice rather than prescribed uses.

1. DESNZ (2025) ‘DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Summer 2025’ ↩