Urban Community Energy Fund
A financial support scheme aimed at urban communities across England wanting to set up renewable energy generation projects in their area.
The Urban Community Energy Fund closed in 2016.
The Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF) was a £10 million fund to kick-start renewable energy generation projects in urban communities across England. Community groups were able to access grants and loans to support the development stages of a renewable energy project that would bring significant benefits to the local community.
Grants of up to £20,000 were available for the more speculative, early stages of a project’s development, such as initial public consultation and preliminary viability studies to determine suitable technologies, and to secure basic land rights.
UCEF was also able to provide contingent loans of up to £130,000 towards the detailed project development costs. This could include the costs of developing and submitting a full planning application, carrying out community consultation, securing all necessary permits and grid connections, arranging power purchase agreements and costing contracts for supply and installation.
Who was eligible to apply?
Groups must:
- have been developing a project in an urban area
- have been incorporated as a legal form that we can give money to
- have answered a series of other eligibility criteria
Any of the following groups were eligible to apply for the fund:
- Registered Company (including CICs)
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation
- Registered Societies (formerly known as IPS)
- Parish and Town Councils
Local authorities, businesses and housing associations could apply in partnership with the local community. For example, if a local authority or housing association wished to use its own land or buildings to host a community renewable energy project, we would expect to see an application from an incorporated body that creates a partnership between that organisation and the community – e.g. ‘Borchester Community Energy CIC’. Such an organisation would need to have clear representation from the local community and a defined, transparent process for managing the income and determining what it will be spent on.
What technologies were eligible?
The technologies that were considered under UCEF included the following:
- wind turbines
- hydropower
- solar photo voltaic
- solar thermal
- ground, water and air source heat pumps
- anaerobic digestion
- biomass
- low carbon/renewable heat networks
- gas combined heat and power (CHP) units
Management of the Fund was contracted out to the Centre for Sustainable Energy (in partnership with Pure Leapfrog):
Questions about the fund should be addressed to the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
Centre for Sustainable Energy
St James Court
St James Parade
Bristol
BS1 3LH
Rural Community Energy Fund
UCEF was the counterpart to the Rural Community Energy Fund, which funded renewable energy projects in rural communities. UCEF could potentially fund all projects not considered to be in a rural area.
Read about the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Community Energy Strategy
The fund was a key commitment in the government’s Community Energy Strategy, which was launched in January 2014. The strategy sets out how communities can help power the country and protect the planet while helping consumers save money on their energy bills.
Further information
The following organisations have useful information about renewable energy generation for community groups:
Updates to this page
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The Urban Community Energy Fund is now closed. Existing applicants are not affected and all successful grant applications will be honoured. They will be supported in the usual way by Centre for Sustainable Energy, UCEF administrators. Email CSE on info@ucef.org.uk or call 0800 038 6345.
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First published.