Neighbourhood Watts is creating a practical model for community-led energy flexibility across the UK. The project will show how local energy schemes can benefit households, communities and electricity networks, while developing business models that attract investment, support wider participation and help deliver Net Zero.
What is the project about?
Neighbourhood Watts is developing a scalable model for community-led energy flexibility and local energy balancing. The project looks at how communities can play a bigger role in supporting the electricity system while sharing more of the benefits from the transition to Net Zero.
Community energy projects can encourage the uptake of technologies such as solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and heat pumps. However, current energy market and regulatory arrangements often limit the benefits communities can access.
The project will identify and measure the different benefits community energy can deliver to households, communities, electricity networks and society. It will bring these benefits together in a single framework and explore how they can be shared fairly between participants.
Working with Community Energy Pathways, Energy Systems Catapult and Fuse Energy, the project will also develop business models and customer offers that make community energy attractive to investors and consumers. These approaches will be designed to include households that do not own low-carbon technologies, helping more people take part.
The aim is to create a practical, scalable approach that supports communities, strengthens the case for community energy and contributes to Net Zero across the UK.
How we’re doing it
We are working closely with community energy organisations, policymakers and regulators to understand the challenges and opportunities communities face when taking part in energy markets.
The project begins by reviewing existing research, policies and market arrangements to build a clear picture of the current landscape. It will identify knowledge gaps and assess the different benefits community energy can provide to consumers, communities, electricity networks and society.
Using this evidence, we will develop business models and customer offers that allow more households to participate and benefit, including those without technologies such as solar panels, batteries or electric vehicles.
We will also explore the policy and regulatory changes that could help community energy grow at scale and attract future investment.
Finally, the project will produce a detailed plan for a future real-world trial. This trial will test selected value streams and measure their benefits in practice, helping build the evidence needed for wider adoption and enabling communities to play a greater role in the UK’s transition to Net Zero.
What makes it innovative
Neighbourhood Watts takes a new approach to understanding and unlocking the value of community energy. While community energy projects already operate across the UK, there is currently no single framework that captures all the benefits they can provide.
The project will bring together benefits for consumers, communities, electricity networks and wider society into one evidence base. This will create a clearer understanding of the full value community energy can deliver and how communities can participate more effectively in the energy system.
The project goes beyond technical analysis. It will assess different sources of value, develop investable business models and examine the policy and regulatory changes needed to support wider adoption. By addressing these areas together, it aims to overcome barriers that have slowed the growth of community energy.
Neighbourhood Watts also focuses on inclusion. Rather than only benefiting households that own technologies such as solar panels, batteries or electric vehicles, it will explore ways for a much wider range of people to participate and share in the value created by community energy schemes.
What we’re learning
Neighbourhood Watts is helping us understand the value community energy can create for households, communities, electricity networks and society, and what is needed to deliver those benefits at scale.
Although community energy projects already exist across the UK, there is limited evidence that brings together all their benefits in one place. The project is building this understanding and exploring how value can be shared more effectively between participants.
We are also learning which business models could make community-led flexibility attractive to investors, community organisations and consumers. Through engagement with stakeholders, we are gaining a better understanding of the opportunities and barriers facing community energy today.
A key area of learning is how to make participation more inclusive. The project is exploring ways for households without technologies such as solar panels, batteries or electric vehicles to take part and benefit.
The work will also provide insights into the policy and regulatory changes that may be needed to encourage investment, support future deployment and help community energy contribute to Net Zero while reducing pressure on electricity networks.
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience when using our website. Many of these cookies are essential to the efficient operation of this site.
