June 2014: The Mayor has responded to a three questions this month on the Government’s recent Community Energy Strategy stating that:
- “I welcome the publication of the Strategy and the establishment of the Community Urban Energy Fund and will look at how, through our existing programmes and activities, we could support London based organisations to access the scheme.”
- He will consider how the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) can potentially compliment the Community Energy Strategy’s Urban Energy Fund
- His advisor and officers have already started meeting a few community energy groups operating in London.
The government’s £10m Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF) will provide up to approximately £150,000 of funding for feasibility and pre-planning development work to help projects become investment ready. The funding will be available in two stages:
- Stage one will be a grant of up to approximately £20,000 for feasibility of renewable energy projects.
- Stage two will be a loan of up to approximately £130,000 to support pre-planning development work, planning applications and to develop robust business cases to attract further development.
Details of the Fund have as yet not been fully announced by DECC as yet, but a new Community Energy Unit has been established in DECC and will be leading on its delivery.