The Great British Energy Community Fund (Formerly the Community Energy Fund)
The Great British Energy Community Fund is a government programme which specifically funds community energy projects to do feasibility and development. £10m was made available through the fund initially in 2023 and the Labour government follow up with another £5m in March 2025.
New grant funding for the Community Fund will be announced soon, alongside a new Partnership Fund for Local Authorities working in collaboration with community energy.
The aim of the fund was to help kickstart projects including small-scale wind farms and rooftop solar partnerships, as well as battery storage, rural heat networks, electric vehicle charging points, and fuel poverty alleviation schemes – all proposed, designed and owned by local people.
Applications will be direct to Great British Energy. However the Local Net Zero Hubs will still be available to support your applications and we encourage you to take advantage of this support at the earliest stage of your projects. You can find details for your regional Net Zero Hub below:
Greater South East Net Zero Hub
North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub
This page will provide you with tools and resources to help you craft a successful application to the fund and will keep you updated on developments and updates, as we hear about them.
You can return to the our Funding Page to see sections on other sources of development funding and Potential capital funding.
Details of how to apply for the Great British Energy Community Fund
To be updated when the Fund is announced. Applications will be centralised to GBE.
Please do connect with your regional Net Zero Hub as early as possible in your project to get support in applying to GBE. Those who engaged early had the best success rate in previous rounds.
Webinars and CEF Events
South West Net Zero Hub Webinar – 4 June 2025
This webinar shared information and guidance about the Great British Energy Community Fund. The webinar is aimed at groups who are new to community energy and established community energy groups in the South West.
Community Energy Fund Webinar
CEE held and exclusive webinar, in collaboration with the Net Zero Hubs. The event was intended to help explain the application process for the community Energy Fund and included presentations from Net Zero Hub officers, who are responsible for administering the fund.
The North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub
Hosted a webinar on 10 April providing an overview of the programme and the funding available, lessons learned from the first round of funding and to provide an opportunity for interested groups to ask questions about the fund.
Great British Energy Community Fund Resources and Help Available
Several CEE members are able to provide support and services to help with project development (on a paid basis) to help with funding applications or feasibility studies. We want to add more members to this list.