Your Guide to Securing Community Energy Investment

With Community Energy Fortnight (1st-14th of July 2025) upon us, the national conversation is focused on a single, vital theme: investment. This is a call to mobilise money and people behind local, community-led energy solutions. Investment is critical in this sector, whether it’s £50 from a neighbour or a strategic boost from an ethical funder. But in a complex landscape, how do you turn local passion into a project that investors and funders will back?

This guide will walk you through the funding landscape and explain why durable technical feasibility is the critical first step to getting your project ‘fund-ready’.

Understanding the Community Energy Funding Landscape

Securing funding is rarely a one-shot effort. The landscape is constantly evolving, and success often comes from understanding the different avenues available.

The most comprehensive list of opportunities is maintained by Community Energy England, the sector’s leading representative body. We highly recommend using their page as a starting point.

View the Live List of Community Energy Funding Opportunities on the Community Energy England Website

As you explore that list, you’ll see opportunities generally fall into these two categories:

1. Government Grants (e.g., The Great British Energy Community Fund)

The Great British Energy Community Fund (formerly the Community Energy Fund) is a prime example of a government initiative empowering local people to develop their own clean energy projects. This type of funding is often designed to cover vital, upfront development costs like feasibility studies and planning support, where expert technical guidance is invaluable.

2. Community Share Offers & Crowdfunding

As highlighted by this year’s Fortnight, this is a powerful way to raise investment directly from the local community. This approach not only raises capital but also builds deep community buy-in and a sense of shared ownership.

3. Ethical Finance & Strategic Investment

Beyond grants and local shares, a growing number of ethical funds and strategic investors are looking to back the community energy sector. These investors seek well-planned, viable projects that can deliver a measurable social, environmental, and financial return.

While knowing where to look for funding is the first step, securing the investment is the next major hurdle. A successful application always requires more than just a good idea; it needs a foundation of credible data, clear performance projections, and a thorough technical feasibility study. This is where being truly ‘fund-ready’ makes all the difference…

The Key to Success: Technical Feasibility

Regardless of the funding source, the success of any community energy project hinges on a clear understanding of its technical viability and potential performance. This is precisely why early-stage development funding is so important – it provides the means to access the professional technical advice needed to ensure a proposed scheme is fit for purpose.

It’s this expert technical and performance-focused advice that will accurately determine the viability of projects and, critically, shape how they can progress efficiently towards implementation. Community groups should proactively explore how different energy technologies and building improvements will work in their specific context to determine the most effective route to impactful energy solutions.

Case Study in Action: Dragonfly Power

Consider our work with Dragonfly Power, where our technical expertise and support were instrumental in securing significant green funding for community halls, including for solar PV arrays, batteries and heat pumps. We provided the detailed energy performance assessments and strategic guidance that underpinned their successful applications, illustrating how thorough technical input can directly enable funding and project success.

Commercial Decarbonisation Commercial Energy Survey

Securing Green Funding: Dragonfly Power, Test Valley

View Case Study

What Does It Mean to Be Truly ‘Fund-Ready’?

Being ‘fund-ready’ means more than just filling out an application; it means having a solid foundation. This involves:

• A technical plan that clearly demonstrates the project’s viability and its strong potential for local community benefit.
• Confidence that the scheme you are presenting is technically achievable and that its performance projections are sound.
• Access to knowledgeable technical partners who can collaborate closely with your group, providing essential insights and support.

Our advice is to focus on ensuring the long-term energy performance and efficiency of your projects. This approach helps create lasting value and will become increasingly significant as renewable energy projects and buildings become more interconnected and integral to local energy resilience.

Of course, a fund-ready project also needs a solid legal structure, a capable team, and a clear plan for navigating local planning and grid connection hurdles. However, our experience shows that even projects with strong governance will fail to secure investment without a credible and verifiable technical plan at their core. This technical foundation is what proves your project is not just a good idea, but a viable reality.

How Our Technical Expertise Can Help

At Building Energy Experts, our role is to provide the specialised technical expertise that helps you develop credible and high-performing clean energy projects that are fundamentally sound, sustainable, and capable of delivering their intended benefits. Our services provide the foundational support needed for any funding application:

• Feasibility Studies & Technical Assessments: Detailed analysis for optimal renewable technology integration and building energy performance improvements.
• Building Testing: Comprehensive technical testing such as Air Tightness Testing and Thermographic Surveys to ensure strong project foundations.
• Retrofit Strategy & Coordination: Retrofit consultancy, guiding energy performance improvements to achieve significant carbon reductions and savings.
• Grant & Funding Application Support: Providing the critical technical data and performance projections needed to strengthen funding applications.
• Decarbonisation Pathways: Developing clear, actionable plans for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in community buildings.

Ready to Ensure Your Project is Truly ‘Fund-Ready’?

The concepts discussed in this blog are just the beginning. For a comprehensive self-assessment of your community energy project’s readiness a funding application, download our detailed Community Energy ‘Fund-Ready’ Checklist!

This valuable tool will guide you through each critical step, helping you identify areas of strength and opportunities for expert support.

What’s Next for Your Community Energy Project?

Ready to turn your community energy vision into reality? Partnering with us means gaining access to the in-depth technical knowledge that can make all the difference. Let us help you navigate the complexities of the energy transition, secure the funding you need, and ensure your project delivers lasting value for your community.

Get in touch today to discuss your project and how we can help you get fund-ready!