Community benefit funding hits £1 million
As of 2024 we hit an important milestone at the Low Carbon Hub: we’ve reinvested over £1 million of our own income from our renewable energy projects back into the community.
In addition, for every £1 of our own funds created, we’ve attracted an additional £13 in grants and contracts to support our communities, drive innovation and deliver carbon reduction programmes.
This achievement stands as a testament to the power of community energy. Read on to discover how we achieved this and the transformative impact it’s having.
How did we generate the surplus?
Low Carbon Hub is driving the clean energy revolution across Oxfordshire with 55 active renewable energy projects. This means schools and businesses across the county are benefiting from renewable energy thanks to our rooftop solar PV arrays. We’ve also harnessed the flow of the Thames with a hydro project at Sandford and expanded our solar portfolio with a ground mount solar park near Bicester.
By selling the electricity we generate we create a sustainable income stream. This can be used to support further clean energy generation, which is so essential for tackling climate change, as well as supporting further carbon cutting activity that benefit the community.
How we spend the community benefit
We use our community benefit income to deliver grants and support to community energy enterprises and funding, help, and advice to support community action on climate change.
Community Grants programme
We work closely with a network of 46 low carbon community groups, all active in raising awareness and encouraging action on climate change in their neighbourhoods. Part of our surpluses is distributed through our Community Grants programme, providing grants ranging from £500 up to £5,000.
Funded activities include contributing towards installing solar arrays, batteries and EV charging points on community buildings, as well as campaigns on encouraging active travel and helping people improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Take a look at the projects we’ve supported over the years.
Delivering community benefit direct
We also use our surpluses to leverage additional funding to enable us to directly run a wide range of programmes that support community action on climate change and seek innovate approaches to accelerating the transition to a net zero energy system.
These currently include:
- An energy advice programme: Training local Energy Champions to deliver energy-saving support in their communities.
- Action on Carbon and Energy in Schools (ACES) – helping Oxfordshire county maintained schools to save energy and money through funded energy assessments and support.
- Cosy Homes Oxfordshire – helping homeowners make their homes more energy efficient, cheaper to run and environmentally friendly.
- Energy Solutions Oxfordshire (ESOx) – supporting organisations of all kinds and sizes to take up energy saving measures.
- Our Helpdesk service, answer questions from communities across the UK on a range of subjects relating to community energy
View our current and past programmes.
Read more in our reports
The examples above are just some of the ways we deliver community benefit support.
Later this year, in the Autumn, we’ll publish our latest Annual Report and Accounts which will give more detail on our activity over the past financial year.
Reaching £1 million pound spent is an important achievement that are incredibly proud of. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen, especially our low carbon community group network who are in their communities tackling climate change with their hard work and dedication.
We can’t wait to see the different the next million makes.