Future Power: Powering a Fair Future for Forth Valley

What if renewable energy could lower costs, support local projects and keep more value in our communities?

A new aspect of our Energy work is ‘Future Power’ – an initiative exploring how income from renewable energy could be shared and reinvested locally across Forth Valley.

Renewable energy is growing across Forth Valley, and it is already bringing some local benefits. Future Power is about building on this, exploring how more of that value can be shared, coordinated and used to support local priorities.

Where energy is generated locally, the benefits should be felt locally too. In this project, we are working with communities, partners and organisations to shape what this could look like in practice, building an approach that delivers long-term benefit for the region.

What we are doing

We are bringing people together across Forth Valley to:

• Explore how income from renewable energy could be used locally
• Identify new opportunities for generation and partnership
• Co-design how benefits are managed
• Test ideas and develop a pipeline of future activity

What this could lead to

Over time, this approach could help to create:

• Support for local energy, energy costs and fuel poverty
• Opportunities for skills, training and jobs
• Stronger collaboration across communities and sectors
• A lasting, community-led model shaped by the people and organisations who live and work here

How does this relate to community energy?

Community energy usually means projects led by local groups to benefit their communities. This is a powerful way for communities to gain sustainable income. Across Forth Valley, this has already brought real benefits to communities and shown what is possible when local people are involved in renewable energy projects.

However, constrained by a combination of rising costs, grid connection delays, complex regulation, limited skills and capacity, uncertain funding, and challenging energy markets, the sector is stalling. Future Power is looking at how a more connected, regional approach could help support existing projects, create new opportunities and increase the overall impact for communities.

Future Power is about:

• Exploring how renewable energy can deliver benefits across Forth Valley
• Designing how income is shared and reinvested
• Building a fair and practical approach that is shaped by communities

Future Power is not about:

• Delivering projects on behalf of communities without their involvement
• Taking control of existing local projects
• Imposing how benefits should be used

Future Power aims to create a wider, collaborative approach by bringing together Forth Valley communities.

Working with partners: 

We are interested in working with partners across Forth Valley to explore practical renewable energy opportunities.

This could include:

• Finding suitable sites and buildings for renewable energy installations
• Exploring long-term agreements to supply locally generated renewable electricity to sites or buildings
• Developing projects for wider community benefit

At this stage, we are exploring where there is interest and what could work in different places. If you are a renewables installer in the region, if your organisation has a potential opportunity, or if you are interested in being involved, we would like to hear from you.