GrantRadar

Great British Energy

Great British Energy Community Fund

Great British Energy's Community Fund gives staged grants to incorporated community organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for community-owned clean energy projects: up to £40,000 for feasibility (Stage 1), up to £100,000 for development to investment-readiness (Stage 2), and up to £3m (max 50% of capital costs) to help build ready-to-build generation projects (Stage 3). Projects must be at least 50% community owned when operating and deliver evidenced local benefits. The £20m, single 8-week window runs 17 September to 11:55pm on 12 November 2026, and all funding must be spent and claimed by 31 March 2028.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Up to £3,000,000
Deadline
25 days left
12 November
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • Legally incorporated community organisations based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, set up to run energy projects for local benefit, with a bank account with two signatories
  • Eligible types: charitable incorporated organisations, community benefit societies, community interest companies, co-operative societies, development trusts, pre-commencement societies, incorporated registered charities, registered social landlords, registered societies, and town, parish or community councils
  • Unincorporated groups, schools and other local authorities cannot apply (a community group can apply for a project on a school site with wider community benefit)
  • The community organisation must hold at least 50% of the legal and financial ownership of the project when operational, have an existing relationship with the host community and evidence of local support, and show a defined share of benefits for the local community
  • Applicants must supply recent statutory accounts (or alternative financial information if newly incorporated) and show they can manage public funding
  • Joint applications need an eligible lead partner
  • Stage 2 needs a completed feasibility study; Stage 3 needs planning permission, a secured grid connection, signed land agreements, a construction plan and confirmed third-party funding

What it funds

  • Stage 1 (Feasibility, up to £40,000, up to 100% of eligible costs): technical, legal and feasibility studies, site identification and assessment, grid feasibility, land and planning scoping, community engagement, governance and ownership structuring, outline financial modelling and project management (capped at 20% of a claim) plus proportionate overheads
  • Stage 1 also covers Type B clean energy advice and efficiency projects (community energy advice services, bulk-buy retrofit, multi-household efficiency programmes)
  • Stage 2 (Development, up to £100,000; needs a completed feasibility study): detailed design, planning and consenting, grid connection applications, land agreements, governance/legal structures, financial modelling and share offer preparation, community engagement, project management and overheads, up to final investment decision
  • Stage 3 (Capital, up to £3m and no more than 50% of capital costs): purchase, construction, installation and commissioning of generation and storage assets and associated infrastructure such as grid connection works
  • Eligible technologies for Stages 1-2: anaerobic digestion (electricity), biogas and biomass heat networks, hydropower, ground-mounted and rooftop solar, solar thermal, wind, and heat pumps, heat-pump-fed heat networks and battery storage when combined with another eligible technology; Stage 3: anaerobic digestion, hydropower, solar, wind and combined battery storage

What it will not fund

  • Costs incurred or committed before the grant is awarded, including application preparation costs
  • Land acquisition costs
  • Ongoing operational costs, business-as-usual activity or general organisational costs unrelated to the project
  • Ongoing delivery of advice services or direct installation of energy efficiency measures (Type B projects are Stage 1 only)
  • At Stage 3: development, feasibility, business case, project management, staff, legal, financial advice, community engagement or overhead costs
  • Repeating or remedying previously funded feasibility or development work without a material change in scope
  • Recoverable VAT
  • Fines, penalties, remediation costs or existing legal obligations
  • Rescue or restructuring support for organisations in financial difficulty
  • Applications directly from schools, or from local authorities other than town and parish councils
  • Projects in Scotland (supported instead through CARES via Local Energy Scotland)

How to apply

  1. Read the Community Fund guidance and check your organisation, project and technology are eligible for the stage you are ready for
  2. Get free pre-application advice: in England from your Local Net Zero Hub (which can review your draft), in Wales from the Welsh Government Energy Service, in Northern Ireland from Advice NI
  3. Create an account on the GBE Community Fund application portal (the person who creates it must submit all stages; collaborators can be invited)
  4. Complete the stage-specific application form: organisation and governance, project details, community ownership and benefits, funding and costs, and risks, with supporting evidence
  5. Submit before the window closes at 11:55pm on 12 November 2026; late or incomplete applications are not accepted
  6. Applications go through eligibility checks, scored assessment (minimum 3 out of 5 in every area), moderation and ranking, then due diligence for shortlisted projects
  7. If successful, agree a Grant Funding Agreement with deliverables; spend and claim all funding by 31 March 2028

Stage 1 and 2 funding reserves a minimum share for Wales, Northern Ireland and each of England's five Local Net Zero Hub regions. There is a single window, with further windows only if funding remains.

The fund is run by Great British Energy (GBE Local) and administered by the Central Grants & Loans team in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero across all three nations.

Have ready

  • Most recent statutory annual accounts (ideally up to three years), or alternative financial information such as management accounts or a statement of assets, liabilities and income if newly incorporated
  • Evidence of the organisation's capability to manage grant funding and project expenditure
  • Cost breakdown with quotes (ideally three) or a justification for fewer
  • Evidence of community engagement and local support
  • Stage 2: completed feasibility study
  • Stage 3: detailed financial model, evidence of planning permission, grid connection, land agreements and third-party funding

Where relevant, evidence of in-house staff competence for self-delivered work, the school's and landowner's support for school-site projects, and declarations of other public funding and connected parties for subsidy control.

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