March/April 2011 | Renewable Energy Focus18

Wind has been the world’s fastest-

growing renewable energy source

for the last 7 years, and this trend is

expected to continue as wind becomes

even more viable fi nancially.

However, there has been a feeling

in some local communities that whilst

others get the benefi t of the energy

generated by this source, they bear

the brunt of the cost, in terms of the

perceived impact on the local land-

scape and house prices. In many cases,

developers have provided community

benefi ts when putting forward onshore

projects, but the approach has been

inconsistent.

Model for other countries?Against this backdrop a Community

Benefi ts Protocol has been developed by

industry association RenewableUK,

in consultation with central and local

Government and other stakeholders

(including independent community

representatives). The Protocol sets

out the commitment by Renewab-

leUK’s members to deliver “real and

tangible benefi ts” to those commu-

nities that live near onshore wind

farms of 5MW and above (installed

capacity).

Key elements• It only applies to onshore wind

farms with an installed capacity of

5MW or more;

• The community(ies) with an

interest in the wind farm will be

identifi ed through a process of

engagement involving the appli-

cant, the Local Planning Authority (LPA), and relevant stakeholders as

defi ned in any Statement of Com-munity Involvement, or Statement of Community Consultation documents

submitted by the project applicant;

• The developer or operator would

make contributions of a minimum

of £1,000 per year per MW of

capacity. The contributions would be

made throughout the projected life

of the installation, beginning within

12 months of the installation start-

ing to generate power;

• The contributions can be fi nancial

payments or benefi ts in kind, in

each case tailored to the community

in question. In general, they can be

made annually but can be aggre-

gated depending on their nature.

It is expected that they would take

account of any obligations in a Sec-tion 106 (planning obligation) agree-

ment imposed by the local planning

authority to secure planning

permission, meaning the developer

should not have to pay twice;

• Certifi cates will be issued for the

project and its operation. Although

the scheme is not compulsory, any

wind farm developer and operator

who is a member of RenewableUK

would face the risk of revocation of

certifi cates if it did not adopt the

Protocol;

• The provisions would take eff ect 3

months from the initial announce-

ment, and would apply to projects

for which a planning application

is made after that date. This gives

wind farm developers a small win-

dow of opportunity to amend their

plans accordingly. The Protocol is

being introduced for England only

at this stage, with similar arrange-

ments for Wales and Northern Ire-

land likely to arrive shortly after.

Whilst the protocol provides a

welcome framework for community

benefi ts, the detail of how the scheme

will operate in practice will need to

be ironed out, and it has been greeted

with scepticism in some quarters.

And the additional cost may result

in some schemes becoming unviable,

particularly as the Government incen-

tive schemes for projects such as this

(Renewable Obligations Certifi cates or

ROCs) will be reviewed periodically.

However, there is a need to encour-

age renewable generation, due to

the UK’s target of generating 15% of

the country’s energy requirements

through renewable sources by 2020,

and if an incentive scheme results in

more communities supporting wind

farm projects, then some believe that

may be a price worth paying.

About the author: Anita Gupta is a partner at law fi rm DWF.

NB: Renewable Energy Focus will be profi ling the Community Benefi t Pro-tocol in more detail in a forthcoming publication.

Community service

THE INTRODUCTION of the Community

Benefi t Protocol in the UK could make a

signifi cant diff erence to communities close

to proposed wind farms. So how does this

work, and could it be a model adopted by

other countries?

focus:Community

REF12-2_p18-19.indd 18 11/04/2011 15:23:39