Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the development of local energy co-operatives; and if he will make a statement.

Community Energy is an important part of the energy system, generating clean energy and delivering energy efficiency, demand management and emissions reductions while engaging the wider community on the energy transition and climate change.

Energy co-operatives are one of the business models that we support. For example, they are eligible for the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) which re-opened at the end of May. The RCEF is a £10m programme which supports rural communities who are looking to develop renewable energy projects. Grants are available for feasibility studies to test out ideas, and if viable, grants are also available to assist with pre-development of projects.