A GRANT of up to £100,000 has been made available to provide continued support for resident groups in Hampshire with developing renewable energy projects.

The grant has been awarded to Community Energy South (CES) and will be available over the next two years as part of Hampshire County Council's activity to support the county to become carbon neutral by 2050 and be resilient to a two-degree rise in temperature.

As renewable energy currently generated in Hampshire is only five per cent of the total used, there is a sizeable opportunity to generate local, low carbon energy.

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Planning and delivering viable, funded schemes are complex and difficult to navigate without significant experience and knowledge of the community energy sector. 

Cllr Rob Humby, council leader and executive member for Hampshire 2050 and corporate services, said: “Harnessing the motivation and enthusiasm of Hampshire’s communities to reduce carbon emissions and generate community renewable energy is key to climate change success.

"The funding awarded to CES will enable them to train and guide a growing number of Hampshire communities who want to come together to reduce their energy use, to buy, manage, and generate low carbon heat and power. "

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Cllr Humby added that examples of ways this could be achieved could include setting up a home energy advice service or building community solar power facilities, to help tackle climate change while makin energy more affordable.

Further support includes a revolving community energy fund, ­set up by the county council, which can invest up to £25,000 in any individual community project in Hampshire and is being delivered with the support of Community Energy South. Any profits received are then reinvested to support further community schemes.

For more information go to hants.gov.uk.