Collection

Community energy in the Midlands

The Midlands Net Zero Hub commissioned a Community Energy Capacity Building Study across the Midlands. The study involved workshops to identify challenges, opportunities, and practical actions that can accelerate community-led energy delivery across the Midlands.

Provided by: Midlands Net Zero Hub

Topics

Capability and skills Community Public consultation and engagement Stakeholders Community energy Energy generation and storage

The Midlands Net Zero Hub (MNZH) commissioned a Community Energy Capacity Building Study across six local authority areas: Birmingham, Herefordshire, Leicester, North Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Worcestershire. Delivered by Energy Saving Trust in partnership with Marches Energy Advice, the study engaged local authorities and community energy stakeholders through facilitated workshops to identify challenges, opportunities, and practical actions that can accelerate community-led energy delivery across the Midlands.

The study produced Community Energy Action Plans for each region, a summary report of the community energy capacity in the Midlands, and an overall guide to community energy based on the findings from the study and its workshops.

Study reports

The guide to community energy highlights how local authorities and community energy groups can work together to accelerate community-owned renewable energy projects that deliver both carbon reduction and social value. It identifies the main barriers facing community energy and provides practical actions to overcome them. The guide emphasises that strong local authority leadership, clear strategies, early collaboration, and long-term partnerships can help communities take greater control of their energy future while supporting local economic growth, fuel poverty reduction, and Net Zero ambitions.

The report examines community energy capacity across six Midlands local authority areas. National initiatives such as the Local Power Plan create a strong opportunity for the Midlands to expand community ownership of clean energy, potentially attracting substantial investment while delivering local economic, social, and environmental benefits. However, stakeholders highlighted a range of common challenges that are preventing projects from progressing from ambition to delivery, with the report recommending a coordinated regional approach to accelerate project development, strengthen local capacity, and create investable pipelines.

Resource

Guide to community energy: Actions for local authorities and community energy groups

As part of the Community Energy Capacity Building Study, this guide identifies the actions that local authorities and community energy groups can work take to address the key barriers to…

Experience level: Foundation

Provided by: Midlands Net Zero Hub

Resource

Community energy capacity in the Midlands

As part of the Community Energy Capacity Building Study, this report summarises its findings from across six Midlands local authority areas, identifying both the significant opportunity and the key barriers…

Experience level: Foundation

Provided by: Midlands Net Zero Hub

Resource

Guide to community energy: Actions for local authorities and community energy groups

As part of the Community Energy Capacity Building Study, this guide identifies the actions that local authorities and community energy groups can work take to address the key barriers to…

Experience level: Foundation

Provided by: Midlands Net Zero Hub

Community energy action plans

These action plans outline how Birmingham City Council, Herefordshire Council, Leicester City Council, North Lincolnshire Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, and Worcestershire County Council can support community energy to deliver Net Zero objectives, lower energy costs, strengthen local resilience, contribute to local economic development, and deliver wider community benefits.

Following workshops that facilitated engagement between local authorities and community energy stakeholders, these action plans identify the main challenges, opportunities, and practical actions that can accelerate community-led energy delivery across the Midlands.