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The Solar Trade Association has committed to push for greater local and community ownership of UK solar projects through its best practice standards for the sector.
The STA said it has amended its ’10 commitments’ standards, which are agreed by all its members, to include a pledge to make investment opportunities available to local communities “where there is local appetite and where it is commercially viable”.
“It is now best practice, where commercially viable, to offer local investment opportunities in solar farms such as bond offers, local authority partnerships, partnerships with legally constituted community energy groups, or other appropriate community partners or approaches, including revenue sharing through reductions in local electricity bills,” the STA said in a statement.
The new commitment to community energy comes the same day as the association is set to run its first ‘masterclass’ which aims to educate its members on the costs, benefits and regulatory implications of the different approaches to community investment.
“Our aim is to find genuine win-wins for the industry and communities that will ultimately enable the UK to accelerate the deployment of clean solar power,” said the STA’s head of external affairs Leonie Greene.
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