Good Practice Principles for Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments

Overview

This document is intended to set out good practice expectations for developers,

communities and other stakeholders, as well as providing guidance on how best to

deliver shared ownership projects.

The final document will sit as an annex to the Community Benefit Good Practice

Principles for Onshore Renewable Energy Developments, all principles in the original

document should be followed. The Community Benefit Good Practice Principles can be

found at www.localenergyscotland.org/goodpractice.

The information in this document or contained in any document or source referred to

in this document should not be considered as and shall not constitute an investment

recommendation or legal, financial, investment or taxation advice by Scottish

Ministers or their respective advisors, consultants or agents to any person.

During public consultation, this document will be reviewed under the Financial

Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”).

Why your views matter

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the evolving field of shared

ownership. Recent years have seen great advances in terms of community

participation in renewable energy, and there are now a variety of ways in which local

people can engage with the field. Shared ownership projects, where the community

is involved as a partner rather than a passive recipient of funds, can have mutual

benefits for both local people and commercial developers. We believe shared

ownership projects offer Scotland the opportunity for improved community

empowerment, a leading and respected renewable energy industry, and increased

local economic and social benefits.

The 2014 One Scotland Programme for Government outlined our commitment to

securing the co-operation of energy developers to offer a stake in developments to

communities as a matter of course. We believe this should be the standard, and

are committed to working with industry, community groups and other stakeholders to

ensure this becomes a reality.

The UK Government‟s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) recently

published a “Government Response to the Shared Ownership Taskforce”. DECC

now expects all relevant renewable energy developers to be engaging and

discussing shared ownership opportunities with local communities. The Scottish

Government shares this expectation, but we think we can go even further in

Scotland, given the package of practical support we offer, as well as the detailed

good practice principles outlined in this document. Hence we expect to monitor

progress not just against engagement and offers made but against take-up. We

also expect to see engagement for all scales of development above microgeneration

– not just the larger sites – as this is an opportunity to embed energy partnerships in

schemes on our farms and estates and add value to their local communities.

In short, we want to see significant implementation of shared ownership

arrangements in Scotland, putting energy into the hands of local communities.

This document has been informed by an industry working group and is intended to

be a valuable tool for developers, community groups, local authorities and other

stakeholders involved in development of renewable energy.

What happens next

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and

used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available

information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the

responses received may:

 indicate the need for policy development or review

 inform the development of a particular policy

 help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals

 be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of

other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a

consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation

exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should

be directed to the relevant public body.