The 6th of October is the deadline for the first round of loans that have been designed to support a range of local community Energy projects in the West of England. More than £128,000 has been put aside as funding for loans that are thought to help a range of small groups to set up clean energy projects. The loans are a part of the Bristol Community Energy Loan Fund that has been formed in order to help clean energy projects planned across the country.
It has been possible to put the funding aside because of a grant that has been awarded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This department is being managed by Bristol City Council’s Energy Service working in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
The first round of loan funding was first opened at the start of September; however, this round will close on Friday the 6th October 2017. The Councilor Fi Hance is a Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste and Regulatory Services and believes that this Community Energy Loan Fund will allow a range of local groups to get a helping hand until they can support themselves. In the west of England, the essential component of the clean energy drive is the passion and ambition of residents. The residents in this region often volunteer in order to make sure that Bristol can be a more sustainable place to live.
The load will help in the development stage of a project and has been designed to support things such as technical studies as well as planning applications, community engagements and financial planning costs. The development stage of a clean energy project is known for being the riskiest period. Therefore, the loan offered by Bristol Community Energy Loan Fund will offer the right amount of support through these stages.
Projects that make it past this development stage will be required to pay the loan back at 6% interest. Any of the groups that don’t make it past this stage will not be expected to pay back the loan, with the 6% premium on the successful loans to account for the unsuccessful projects.
