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The Scottish government has already reached its 2020 target of 500MW of community energy, set to encourage local ownership in Scotland.
Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said that 508MW of community or locally owned capacity is now operational in Scotland.
Ewing said reaching the goal early creates the opportunity to “increase our ambition and keep Scotland in the lead.”
“We will be considering the scope to review our target alongside other energy policy development over the coming months.”
The Scottish government recently published its first ever Community Energy Policy Statement promoting a new approach to energy development in Scotland.
Ewing said: “There are still challenges we need to overcome – community energy generally has higher capital costs, longer lead in times and frequent delays in connecting to the grid, while the UK Government is intent on slashing support for small scale renewables.
This summer the department of energy and climate change (Decc) said it would scrap the Renewables Obligation support for onshore wind a year earlier than planned and has also threatened to scrap the Feed-in Tariff and end subsidies for biomass and small solar projects
“The first national Community Energy Policy Statement makes community energy a central part of our energy ambitions and we are providing the best possible environment to help ambitious community groups reap the financial benefits of owning or hosting renewables schemes. I want to see more communities take decisions about their local energy system and to have an economic stake in new developments.”
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