achieve is extremely important. He says: “People have to be very clear that


there is a real requirement for generating revenue so it may almost be self-evident what the need is. It could be an urgent need for funds to help regeneration, measures to create jobs and invest in whatever measures are necessary to sustain the community. Tat’s the starting point: be very clear as to what’s needed.” For the village of Fintry in Stirlingshire, the


starting point for the village’s hugely successful renewables project was eight years ago when energy company FALCK Renewables announced they would be building a wind farm nearby. Four locals saw the opportunity that this presented, and decided to ask FALCK if an extra wind turbine belonging to the community could be added to the site. Te 2.5MW turbine now brings in a gross


income of around £400,000–£500,000, leaving the community with about £50,000


“That’s the starting point: be very clear as to what’s needed”


once the running and capital costs are paid. Gordon Cowtan, who is one of seven


directors of the Fintry Development Trust (FDT) set up to hold income from the turbine, says that the first hurdle that had to be overcome was getting the energy company to take the request for a turbine seriously. “At the time it was very frustrating because


to us it seemed very obvious that we should be doing this but in retrospect I can kind of see why, actually, because it wasn’t something that anyone had ever really done before, we weren’t entirely clear about what it was we wanted to try and do. “Certainly early on they had doubts about


how credible we were and whether we were speaking for the community or whether we were just four guys with a good idea and I think when they realised that we did have the backing of the community council and we had the backing of our MSP, then that was when they started to take it more seriously,” he says. Once the idea was off the ground, FDT applied for grant funding from the Scottish Government, which they were awarded. Tey were also awarded funding to cover legal costs of around £5,000 from Awards for All. For communities thinking about starting


up their own project, Cowtan says: “In terms of advice for other people, I think kind of just going for it, actually, is my advice.” He also says that an appreciation of the time


commitments involved is very much needed. While these went “in fits and starts”, there were times when a lot of effort was needed. “Te whole thing from when I got


involved to when we actually signed the legal documents probably took somewhere around two or three years so it was over quite a long period of time and during that time there were periods where it was quite intensive and there were other periods where nothing very much happened. “So there were four of us working on it over


that period and I think we reckoned we put in something like 100 man days effort in total but quite a lot of that was spent learning what it was we were trying to do and we didn’t have any background in the industry at all.” In another example of a successful project,


the Nevis Centre in Fort William, which was awarded grant funding from CES, installed a biomass heating system just over a year ago. Tis is already believed to have saved the centre tens of thousands of pounds that would previously have been spent on expensive heating oil. Although the rising cost of energy is a


very good reason for communities to start thinking about community projects, there is concern in the sector that decisions from the UK Government to move away from grant funding toward revenue-based incentives will make the upfront costs of projects difficult to find. While the new Feed-In Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive schemes do offer financial support to people undertaking renewable energy projects, this is provided over the lifetime of the energy source rather than upfront at the start of the project. However, financing a project from the beginning is often very expensive and there is a fear that community groups and individuals will be reluctant to look at other options. “Projects need to be bankable, they need to


be watertight in terms of how the project’s developed, there are risks that are involved in any project that are assessed in order to secure loan funding, so there is a need to get rid of some of the risk in the development process,” says Ruskell. CES is also concerned about this issue and


is now trying to look at what can be done to help communities. “It’s going to require a different approach,”


Gubbins says. “For example, we’re now actively looking


at whether we can provide a financing solution which removes those risks from a community group but still enables them to generate some income or to meet their building requirements, so we’re trying to pin down some support to effectively fill that gap that’s now arisen.”


IN BRIEF


School food and drink partnership launched Guidelines for partnership working between schools and food and drink organisations have been launched in an effort to help teach pupils more about where their food comes from. Launching the guidelines at the Royal Highland Show, Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson said: “These partnership guidelines aim to encourage pupils to make the connection between the food they eat and its environmental, health and social impact, which we hope will help them make healthier, sustainable food choices in the future.”


Carbon capture plans move forward Three UK energy companies have announced plans to create an onshore 260km pipeline to carry up to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide, pumping emissions from Longannet power station in Fife to the North Sea. Scottish Power, National Grid and Shell UK want to use a natural gas line which runs from Falkirk to Peterhead for the project, which would be the first of its kind in the UK. Work on the pipeline will begin in 2014, and is expected to deliver a full carbon capture scheme by 2015.


Onshore wind ‘key to renewables’ The chairman of renewable energy trade association Scottish Renewables has said that onshore wind is the only way to “secure the full potential” of the renewable energy industry. Speaking at the Scottish Renewables Onshore Wind Conference and Exhibition, Jeremy Sainsbury welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020, saying: “There can be no clearer signal to this industry or to those who wish to invest that we really mean business.”


Scottish Power agrees efficiency programme Following concerns about increasing gas and electricity prices at Scottish Power, a targeted £10m energy efficiency deal has been agreed with the Scottish Government. The programme will upgrade insulation and heating systems in homes in specific areas of the country and will see Scottish Power working with the Government, councils and other agencies to identify those most in need. More details of how the scheme will work are expected in the summer.


Guidance on flooding published New flooding guidance detailing the roles and responsibilities of all agencies involved in dealing with flood management has been published. Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson said that the Sustainable Flood Management guidance represented a “major step forward” in improving resilience and response to flooding in Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also launched a consultation on areas vulnerable to flooding and Local Plan Districts which will aim to further target flood management efforts.


27 June 2011 Holyrood 53


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