Benefits of the Project
What is community benefit?
Community benefit usually comes in the form of a financial payment from a renewable energy project to the surrounding community. They are not compensatory payments but a voluntary way for the owners of the project to share some of the financial rewards with the surrounding community. Community benefit is termed a "non-material consideration" in planning. In other words it has no relevance to a decision on the planning application.
Community benefit is usually offered on the basis of the number of MW (megawatts) of installed capacity of the project. The recent announcement (Feb 2011) by trade body RenewableUK is for a universal protocol for their members of £1,000 as a minimum payment per year per MW of installed wind power during the lifetime of the wind farm.
What is being offered as community benefit from the Carrach project?
It is estimated that the project will be able to provide at least £5,000 per MW in community benefit by year four of operation and for this payment to then be continued annually - this payment is 5 times higher than the minimum (see above) and also significantly higher than the neighbouring Drumderg wind farm near Alyth.
It is planned that payments will start off in a phased way with £9,000 available at the end of the first year of operation rising to £36,000 by year four and then continuing at that level each year. There will also be an indexing of this £36,000 figure to either inflation or 2.5%, whichever is smaller. Over the 25 year project lifetime this represents a payment of approximately £900,000 into some form of community fund.
Originally the proposal was for a ten turbine 8MW project which would have resulted in a higher level of £40,000 a year payments by year four, however the project has been redesigned to reduce the turbine numbers to nine reducing the resultant community payments by 10%.
However if the receiving body was a registered charity it could also reclaim basic rate tax on the annual sum through Gift Aid amounting to an extra 25% for the community.
There is more information about the community benefit of windfarms in the recent report "A Community Commitment - the Benefits of Onshore Wind".
Who receives these payments?
Payments do not go to the Local Authority - they are paid directly to the local community. There are a number of ways this can be done and the project will explore the best way of setting up a community body to receive this money (see our forthcoming workshop on the Events page).
One approach is to set up a local development trust which would be able to match the funding with local priorities established by local people with democratic control of the process. There are also other models for how these funds can be managed and dispersed such as using the Scottish Community Foundation (see Drumderg Windfarm example). We intend to consult with the community on their preferred approach.
Community Energy Scotland have produced a guide for communities on community benefit payments.
What is the money used for?
Windfarm community benefit payments are typically used for a wide range of community projects, for example:
1. Community Action eg. improvements to local schools and playgroups, community halls, local events etc.
2. Grants to local households for energy efficiency improvements and green energy generation projects
3. Support directly to local Community Organisations eg. books for libraries, IT equipment and recreational improvements for local schools, play equipment for playgroups, facilities for playparks, refurbishment of churches etc.
4. Youth scholarships eg. to support young people with limited funds to attend college
5. Environmental, recreation and green energy projects eg. ecological enhancement of local sites
6. Support for local economic development eg. events that bring tourists into the area
7. Community Health & Wellbeing project support
Which areas will be prioritised?
The areas with the most direct connection the project will be the Community Council areas of Kirriemuir and Kirriemuir Landward West - see map on Documents page. These will be prioritised for receipt of funding.
How will Carrach impact on efforts to tackle climate change?
Electricity generation is a major source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change. In order to tackle this problem government’s around the world have set targets for reducing carbon emissions. Scotland’s target is for a 42% reduction in emissions by 2020. To meet this target, effort will be needed to reduce the amount of energy we use, but this on it’s own will not be enough. There needs to be a gradual shift away from sources of electricity generation which are high carbon polluters such as coal, gas and oil. They need to be replaced with a wide number of renewable sources of electricity generation located where good resources are available and linked together into a grid which can balance supply with demand over a wide area. Carrach is a small scheme, but combined with others across Scotland will make a big difference in reducing emissions. Already renewable energy is supplying the equivalent of a quarter of Scotland’s electricity needs, but this needs to progress further to meet targets.
Community benefit usually comes in the form of a financial payment from a renewable energy project to the surrounding community. They are not compensatory payments but a voluntary way for the owners of the project to share some of the financial rewards with the surrounding community. Community benefit is termed a "non-material consideration" in planning. In other words it has no relevance to a decision on the planning application.
Community benefit is usually offered on the basis of the number of MW (megawatts) of installed capacity of the project. The recent announcement (Feb 2011) by trade body RenewableUK is for a universal protocol for their members of £1,000 as a minimum payment per year per MW of installed wind power during the lifetime of the wind farm.
What is being offered as community benefit from the Carrach project?
It is estimated that the project will be able to provide at least £5,000 per MW in community benefit by year four of operation and for this payment to then be continued annually - this payment is 5 times higher than the minimum (see above) and also significantly higher than the neighbouring Drumderg wind farm near Alyth.
It is planned that payments will start off in a phased way with £9,000 available at the end of the first year of operation rising to £36,000 by year four and then continuing at that level each year. There will also be an indexing of this £36,000 figure to either inflation or 2.5%, whichever is smaller. Over the 25 year project lifetime this represents a payment of approximately £900,000 into some form of community fund.
Originally the proposal was for a ten turbine 8MW project which would have resulted in a higher level of £40,000 a year payments by year four, however the project has been redesigned to reduce the turbine numbers to nine reducing the resultant community payments by 10%.
However if the receiving body was a registered charity it could also reclaim basic rate tax on the annual sum through Gift Aid amounting to an extra 25% for the community.
There is more information about the community benefit of windfarms in the recent report "A Community Commitment - the Benefits of Onshore Wind".
Who receives these payments?
Payments do not go to the Local Authority - they are paid directly to the local community. There are a number of ways this can be done and the project will explore the best way of setting up a community body to receive this money (see our forthcoming workshop on the Events page).
One approach is to set up a local development trust which would be able to match the funding with local priorities established by local people with democratic control of the process. There are also other models for how these funds can be managed and dispersed such as using the Scottish Community Foundation (see Drumderg Windfarm example). We intend to consult with the community on their preferred approach.
Community Energy Scotland have produced a guide for communities on community benefit payments.
What is the money used for?
Windfarm community benefit payments are typically used for a wide range of community projects, for example:
1. Community Action eg. improvements to local schools and playgroups, community halls, local events etc.
2. Grants to local households for energy efficiency improvements and green energy generation projects
3. Support directly to local Community Organisations eg. books for libraries, IT equipment and recreational improvements for local schools, play equipment for playgroups, facilities for playparks, refurbishment of churches etc.
4. Youth scholarships eg. to support young people with limited funds to attend college
5. Environmental, recreation and green energy projects eg. ecological enhancement of local sites
6. Support for local economic development eg. events that bring tourists into the area
7. Community Health & Wellbeing project support
Which areas will be prioritised?
The areas with the most direct connection the project will be the Community Council areas of Kirriemuir and Kirriemuir Landward West - see map on Documents page. These will be prioritised for receipt of funding.
How will Carrach impact on efforts to tackle climate change?
Electricity generation is a major source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change. In order to tackle this problem government’s around the world have set targets for reducing carbon emissions. Scotland’s target is for a 42% reduction in emissions by 2020. To meet this target, effort will be needed to reduce the amount of energy we use, but this on it’s own will not be enough. There needs to be a gradual shift away from sources of electricity generation which are high carbon polluters such as coal, gas and oil. They need to be replaced with a wide number of renewable sources of electricity generation located where good resources are available and linked together into a grid which can balance supply with demand over a wide area. Carrach is a small scheme, but combined with others across Scotland will make a big difference in reducing emissions. Already renewable energy is supplying the equivalent of a quarter of Scotland’s electricity needs, but this needs to progress further to meet targets.
