Stornoway communities set for ‘unprecedented opportunity’ amid goldrush energy bonanza

Communities across the Western Isles could be in line for major windfalls as a result of new energy projects and infrastructure, a key charity boss has said.

The expansion of energy development, including new onshore and offshore wind projects, will create exceptional opportunities for local communities in ways not seen at this scale north of the border, providing an “unprecedented opportunity”.

Speaking on Samtaler’s latest Let’s Talk Social Value podcast, Foundation Scotland’s head of communities and impact, Rachel Searle, said the “sums coming to communities will be significant”.

She said that onshore wind development had already “blazed a trail” when it comes to social value and giving back to communities in which they operate.

That means communities around renewables projects, the supply chain and the wider transmission network, including routes where new pylons are constructed, should stand to benefit from considerable investment.

New projects are cropping up right across the country, including the ScotWind initiative to generate more than 30 Gigawatts of energy is now underway.

Foundation Scotland is a charity which distributes millions of pounds from different donors to communities across Scotland.

It has a significant track record in designing and delivering community benefit funds in partnership with communities and renewable energy businesses.

Rachel Searle appeared in the latest version of the podcast, run by Scotland-based social value agency Samtaler.

Rachel Searle, head of communities and impact for Foundation Scotland, said:

“The renewables industry has been pioneering and has really blazed a trail on making community benefit funds available.

“Community benefit is now also being provided by battery storage projects, ports, all the things that are cropping up increasingly as part of the upgrade of the whole transmission infrastructure that needs to happen to cope with all the new electricity being generated from renewables.

“And the transmission network itself, including new pylons, will also have community benefit linked to it.

“The sums coming to communities will be significant, and there will also be separate payments going to individual households particularly affected by new infrastructure.

“These are unprecedented opportunities, and we need to make sure we convert them to well-considered, well-structured, well-managed and well-designed funds that work well for communities, and that communities themselves have jurisdiction over.”