The annual Community Energy State of the Sector survey and report has
provided insight into the UK community energy sector since 2016. This
report focuses on progress in 2020, the ambition of the sector, and the
importance of community energy for achieving both net zero and a green
recovery. The report provides evidence-based recommendations to
policy-makers and stakeholders on how the sector can meet its potential.
Community Energy England, Wales and Scotland conduct this research to:
• further understand the current state of the sector
• identify evidence-based areas of growth and opportunity
• add to our robust and accessible dataset on the community
energy sector.
This research enables Community Energy England, Wales and Scotland to
advocate more effectively for their members, and to identify where more
support is needed. Anonymised data from this year’s and previous surveys
is publicly available, which reduces the need for community energy
organisations to fill out multiple surveys and gives stakeholders access to
relevant data to better understand the sector.
The survey was open from February to April 2021, with the data analysis and
reporting delivered by Regen, before publication in June 2021. For the first
time, Scottish community energy organisations were invited to take part in
the survey, so the research now covers the whole of the UK. Questions were
asked about electricity generation, low carbon transport, low carbon heat,
energy efficiency, barriers to projects, and plans for the future. There were
also questions about the social impacts of community energy, diversity,
funding and how COVID-19 has affected activities. The report can be found here:
