How do we balance national objectives in the energy transition with local acceptability? Meeting net-zero goals requires the deployment of renewables, batteries and grid infrastructure, yet host communities may resist these efforts. This question was central to a roundtable hosted last week by the Hitachi-Imperial Centre for Decarbonisation and Natural Climate Solutions with stakeholders actively engaged in local area energy planning. Attendees from across policy and business shared their perspectives on the challenges faced in understanding how communities fit into the national picture of decarbonisation, and how more benefits can be retained locally. 

The event marked the completion of a 12-month project at the Hitachi-Imperial Centre and the launch of an Evidence Brief on the topic (From Cost to Gains - Fair benefit sharing in local energy transitions).First, the project synthesised the latest research on local costs and benefits from hosting clean electricity infrastructure, showing how design choices and local characteristics can produce very different outcomes. Second, it looked at the range of policy tools available, focusing on financial benefit policies. This included reviewing approaches such as compensation, bill discounts, taxes and fiscal devolution, shared ownership and community funds, as well as lessons learnt from real-world implementations. Finally, it compiled quantitative evidence from the evaluation of a compensation scheme in Denmark and how this affected new project development.

It is a particularly timely topic in the UK, where voluntary schemes have recently been complemented by mandatory ones, such as the electricity bill discount for those living near new or upgraded grid infrastructure, which comes into force in 2027. Regional energy strategic plans will also play an important role in the future rollout of clean energy technology. The prime minister recently highlighted the need for local communities to share actively in the energy transition, in  a recent opinion piece, focused on enabling local ownership.

Dr Sandra Bernick, lead researcher on the project at Imperial Business School, said: “At a time of large-scale transformation for the UK electricity system, enabling host communities to share in the benefits from the energy transition is paramount. Comparative case studies highlighted especially that who exactly benefits from these schemes is part of their success, and in the worst case, poor designs can produce opposition instead.” 

She added: “The research also highlights that we must consider carefully how any new measure to create benefits for host communities impacts on the decisions of other actors, such as developers, who have been shown to respond strategically.” 

During the discussion, participants stressed that the energy planning process requires a clearer picture of where (and when) the costs and benefits fall in order to best manage them. They also highlighted a need to better understand perceived versus real impacts attributed to clean energy technology, noting that increasing information and engagement locally may narrow this gap and is important alongside ensuring a better distribution of benefits. On the provision of benefits, participants pointed to the importance of visibility, transparency and fairness within the local community. Any benefit provision must, however, consider trade-offs between improving local acceptability and national affordability. This is because increases in local costs will be passed on to consumers. Participants also noted that developers require certainty about revenues to make projects bankable and are already plagued by long grid connection delays that increase uncertainty about project costs. 

Dr Shiro Yamaoka, General Manager of Hitachi Europe R&D, said: “Delivering the UK’s energy infrastructure is not just an engineering challenge – it also depends on the support of host communities. This project shows the value of the Hitachi-Imperial College centre by providing impartial evidence and then bringing others into the conversation, such as regulators, developers, investors, councils and community organisations.”

To continue the conversation, the project team will present the Evidence Brief in a webinar on Thursday 15 October at 09:30. See full details and register for the webinar.