Community Benefit Fund
A Community Benefit Fund is proposed with the intention of recognising the contribution communities make when they host a solar farm in their locality. Not every part of the country is suitable to locate a solar farm. Those areas that are suitable, should benefit from doing so, and the Community Benefit Fund is the mechanism by which the local community benefits.
Renewable energy projects such as the proposed solar farm will have a significant community benefit fund associated with them for solar energy and this contribution is currently set at €2 per megawatt hour (€2/MWhr). For the Coolnakilla Renewable Energy Farm, this could amount to approximately €250,000 per annum, depending on the final number of panels proposed.
Coolnakilla Renewable Energy Limited is committed to working with the local community and strongly believes in playing a part in contributing to the social, environmental, and economic wellbeing of the communities surrounding the proposed solar farm project.
All citizens living in the vicinity of the project are invited to give feedback on how the fund could be spent to the betterment of their community. Once the fund is open for applications further information will be available on the project website. In the meantime, we invite feedback via the community survey on the project website.
Should the proposed development be permitted, it would result in a financial benefit for the local community. The value of this fund would be directly proportional to the electricity generated by the solar farm. The following terms and conditions would apply:
Direct payments – Direct payment would be made to those living closest to the solar farm, which gradually decrease with distance from the solar farm. The amount paid to each household would depend on the number of houses within varying distances from the solar farm, and the total amount from the Community Benefit Fund allocated to direct payment.
Support for local groups – Local groups, clubs and not-for-profit, community organisations would be able to apply for funding to ensure that people in the wider community (who may not receive direct payments) also get to benefit in some way from the proposed solar development, through the funding supports that would be made available to benefit local community groups and projects.
We would love to hear your thoughts on how this fund could best support and benefit your community.
Click here to complete the survey questionnaire.
