OVO has been working with the Labour Party to build out community energy and is now set to help UK households as it hosts a summit to accelerate the build out of community energy
OVO Energy is preparing to stage an energy summit designed to strengthen the Labour Government’s community energy aspirations. Last week, OVO joined forces with Kerry McCarthy, Bristol East MP and Climate Minister, to bring together policy architects, sector specialists and prominent green enterprises. The assembled groups examined the crucial need to accelerate community energy development.
MP McCarthy highlighted community energy’s vital contribution to the Labour Government’s clean power goals, whilst delivering concrete advantages to voters and enterprises across her constituency. Participants investigated how community-controlled energy projects, spanning solar installations to neighbourhood wind schemes, can address the climate emergency whilst boosting local employment, strengthening resilience, and driving innovation – with millions of UK homes standing to gain in the future.
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This follows OVO’s launch of ‘People Powered: How Communities Can Fund and Sell Their Own Power’, a toolkit designed to demystify community energy for ordinary citizens.
The handbook provides hands-on guidance covering financing, regulatory requirements, and resident engagement, seeking to remove obstacles that frequently halt grassroots projects, reports Birmingham Live.
Stephen Harris, VP Energy Markets and Optimisation, explained: “Community energy has a critical role to play in the net zero transition – not just in generating clean power, but also in ensuring that communities benefit from the investment made into decarbonisation. We are thrilled to be launching our community energy toolkit, alongside our MP Kerry McCarthy, to help more people access the benefits of local, renewable power.”
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In its toolkit, OVO stated: “At OVO, we believe community energy has a critical role to play in the net zero transition. Through our work setting up Power Purchase Agreements with community energy projects across the UK, we’ve seen first-hand the determination and ambition these groups bring to delivering local, renewable energy.”
“But it’s also clear that the system isn’t always set up to let this ambition thrive – with regulatory, financial and structural barriers too often standing in the way.” They continued: “Across the UK, communities are already leading the charge. But getting a project off the ground isn’t always easy.”
“That’s why we’ve created People Powered: How Communities Can Fund and Sell Their Own Power – a practical guide to help community groups navigate the complex world of finance and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).”
As shared on its website, OVO is also committed to becoming a net-zero carbon business by 2035. Their commitment is outlined in their ‘Plan Zero’ strategy, aiming to reduce their reliance on offsets, helping UK households to reduce the cost of their bills.