PowerPaired

A matchmaking service for community energy groups and the owners of sites with renewable energy potential.

PowerPaired is a new, free online platform which provides a matchmaking service to bring together community energy groups and the owners of sites with potential for renewable energy generation.

Our aim is to increase the number of community-owned renewable energy projects in the UK, helping communities to take control of the way their energy is generated, saving money and tackling climate change at the same time.

Over 100 assets are already on offer from organisations such as the National Grid and Scottish Power alongside churches, schools, offices and other sites across the UK that could potentially host a community-owned renewable energy project.

PowerPaired is generously supported by the players of People's Postcode Lottery through the Postcode Earth Trust, the GLA (Greater London Authority) and Friends Provident.

Visit the website

The Challenge

Community-owned renewable energy projects give people control over where their energy comes from whilst generating local employment opportunities and income which can be put to great local causes.

Renewable energy sites might range from a school that can offer its roof for solar panels to a farmer who has space on his land for wind turbines. The site owner will potentially save money on their energy bills without having to invest capital in the technology themselves, whilst strengthening their relationship with their community.

But one of the biggest obstacles for community groups is finding a site that can be developed on. These are often owned by private landowners, commercial companies or local authorities who may be enthusiastic about renewable energy but don’t have the time or expertise to explore options themselves.

Our solution

We aim to make the process of matching up asset owners and local community groups quick and easy so that they can get on with the real work of starting a renewable energy project.

It’s really quite simple: register as an asset owner or as a community energy group on the PowerPaired website, then follow the process to input the details of your community energy group or potential assets. Community energy groups can then browse for properties or land that they may be interested in, and make an expression of interest. From there, if the asset owners accept, they can have a direct conversation.

Alongside matchmaking, the PowerPaired website will signpost users to a range of support tools to assist them, including partner Pure Leapfrog’s legal template documents and support from agencies such as Community Energy England and regional BEIS funded Energy Hubs.

Benefits of joining

At the heart of community energy is the delivery of positive social and environmental (lower CO2) impacts. These can be direct benefits through a community benefit fund for local projects such as fuel poverty initiatives or green spaces, alongside the obvious carbon savings.

The benefits to asset owners of working in partnership with a community energy group on a project are manifold. For instance:

A potential reduction in energy consumption and cost for buildings that are in ownership - without having to invest capital
Improved community relations and engagement
Enhanced reputation as an innovative, responsible organisation or individual
Helping deliver tangible social benefits such as community cohesion and empowerment
Opportunities for staff to invest in local community schemes, leading to improved staff morale and engagement

Find out more

You can access the following webinar recordings:

For Community Energy Groups that are interested in finding out how PowerPaired could help get renewable energy projects off the ground.
For businesses and organisations whose land or buildings could host a renewable energy project.
For Local Authorities that have declared a climate emergency and are interested in exploring why community energy could be key to their future climate response plans.

You can read more about how the players of People's Postcode Lottery are helping us scale community-owned renewable energy projects through the PowerPaired platform in these articles: Reinventing Renewables and Inspiring new Generations.

Press release: Matchmaking service for green enthusiasts supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.

Join us

Visit Powerpaired and register here; otherwise, we’d be delighted to answer any questions you have on [email protected].

Who’s involved

“I’m delighted that funding raised by players is helping to support PowerPaired. This is a hugely innovative and exciting project which is set to make a big difference to communities who would like to generate their own energy.”

Will Humpington, Climate Change and Environmental Programmes Advisor at People’s Postcode Lottery

“National Grid believes that community-owned renewable energy is a key part of the puzzle when it comes to empowering consumers to take more control over how their energy is generated and used and reducing carbon emissions. We encourage local community groups to sign up to the PowerPaired platform so we can start to explore new projects together, and asset owners to register their own sites so we can really start seeing more movement in this space."

Nicky Conway, Sustainability Manager at National Grid

Related links:

Visit the PowerPaired website
You can follow PowerPaired on Twitter @PowerPaired and on Facebook

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