London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has today launched a second round of funding for community energy projects following the success of the first, which funded the initial stages of 11 solar projects set to be installed by the end of the year.
First mooted a year ago when deputy mayor Shirley Rodrigues sat down with Solar Power Portal in City Hall, the first round of the London Community Energy Fund (LCEF) awarded £150,000 to fund a range of solar project feasibility and scoping activities.
Phase two will bring forward an additional £150,000 that as last time will offer grants of up to £15,000 per project to support the development stages of community energy projects.
Unlike last year’s grant scheme, 2018’s programme has been broadened out from just solar to support projects that both produce clean local energy and reduce energy demand.
While the Mayor’s office has suggested energy efficiency measures such as LED lighting as an example, battery storage could also feature owing to the technology’s ability to optimise on-site generation and reduce overall demand.
The move was welcomed by Emma Bridge, chief executive of Community Energy England, who told SPP: “We very much welcome it, not least because we don’t know what’s going to happen post-2019 regarding central government support. It’s going to be more important than ever for community energy to have regional support in order to continue to deliver projects to transform local places. In fact it’s probably vital and so we also welcome the wider remit.
“Community energy is all about bringing together energy holistically to transform local places so recognising that through this funding really looks at where the future of community energy is going to go.”
Read more: Solar Power Portal