Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward proposals to ensure that community benefit commitments made by renewable energy developers are binding on successor owners, in order to prevent the loss or dilution of benefits when projects are sold.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In Great Britain, the provision of community benefits by renewable energy developers is currently voluntary.
As shown in the Community benefits guidance for onshore wind in England, the Government expects developers to consider their approach to community benefit provision at all stages of a project’s lifetime, including as ownership changes, to ensure communities continue to see benefits from hosting energy infrastructure.
Last year, the Government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership for low carbon energy infrastructure, which sought views on the introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme.