CARES Community Energy Growth Fund — Construction
Grants and optional loans help Scottish community organisations build and commission community-owned renewable electricity and storage projects.
Denne finansieringsmulighed er i øjeblikket beskrevet på engelsk.
The Construction track funds renewable equipment, installation, grid-connection payments, construction and commissioning, project management, professional advisers and specialist engineering support. Feasibility and development work have separate funding tracks.
The grant covers 60% of the first £500,000 of eligible construction costs and 25% of costs above that, subject to the maximum award. Larger projects receive one blended reimbursement percentage for all eligible invoices. For example, £1.5 million of eligible work yields £550,000 in grant support, or about 36.7% across the project. Your organisation must finance costs not covered by the award.
You can apply for a CARES Construction Loan towards some or all remaining eligible construction costs, subject to affordability and a loan assessment. Energy Saving Trust is the lender. Its loans start at £25,000 and run for up to five years. They are unsecured, meaning no asset is pledged as security; you remain responsible for repayment and the lender can still take recovery action. You must repay the money: interest is 0% for months 0–18 from receiving the first loan funds (the first drawdown), 5% for months 19–30 and 10% from month 31 onwards. There are no upfront fees. Grants and loans together are capped at £2 million per financial year. Larger projects may be phased across years, subject to available funding and agreed milestones.
Loan repayments start after the project becomes fully operational, normally the first full quarter afterwards unless agreed otherwise. Payments are quarterly. Your schedule may include a large final payment to clear the balance, called a balloon payment; you must show a credible plan to meet it. The lender provides your actual repayment schedule and total credit cost. You can repay early with five days’ notice and no early-repayment penalty; partial repayments must normally be at least £5,000, unless clearing a smaller balance. Early repayment does not end community-benefit obligations.
Missed payments can attract 10% interest even during the initial interest-free period. Continuing default can lead to immediate repayment demands or suspension of the loan, and recovery costs can be added with interest. The loan agreement is not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and does not carry that Act's protections.
Eligibility
Your organisation must be non-profit distributing and serve a Scottish geographical community or community of interest, including faith groups. Accepted structures are Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations, companies limited by guarantee, community benefit societies, community interest companies, OSCR-registered unincorporated charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs. Surpluses must not be distributed to members, even when the organisation closes. At least three unrelated board or committee members must be local to the area of benefit, and two trustees or directors must complete identity and anti-money-laundering checks.
Every project must be community-owned, use proven technology and meet at least one of these routes:
- New renewable electricity generation totalling at least 100 kW. Several sites or technologies, or expansion of an existing supported project, can combine to meet this threshold.
- New storage of at least 100 kWh providing services to the wider grid or energy system. This route can be standalone storage.
- Add storage, demand flexibility or both to new or existing renewable generation totalling at least 100 kW. Demand flexibility means adjusting when electricity is used to help the energy system. Storage cannot count towards generating capacity: kW measures power, while kWh measures stored energy.
Solar panels, onshore wind, hydropower and batteries are eligible examples; research into unproven technology is excluded. Power may go to the grid, a local user with enough demand, or a building or site. Repowering an existing project—renewing its generating equipment—can qualify. Smaller solar projects on third-party buildings, wind and hydro can be considered below the 100 kW generation threshold when they deliver significant lasting community benefit and explain how project income will be used.
For projects supplying your building, heating that has already moved away from fossil fuels is preferred. If the building has not yet made this change, it may be considered case by case. You must provide half-hourly electricity-use data showing sufficient daytime demand and a credible plan to decarbonise the heating by moving away from fossil fuels.
You must uphold the CARES equality charter, including non-discrimination and inclusive building access where relevant. When a revenue-generating project has funds to distribute, it needs a community action plan representing all members and encouraging participation, plus a strategy for fair and inclusive use of the money.
Employers must pay the real Living Wage (the minimum pay standard required by CARES) and provide individual and collective ways for workers to raise their views. The wage rule covers UK-based staff aged 16 or older, including apprentices; the declaration also covers contractors and agency staff. Sign a joint declaration when applying and before the final claim. Below £100,000 of annual CARES support, self-declarations are subject to spot checks; above £100,000 including the request, additional evidence is required. Fewer than 21 workers removes the need to evidence collective voice, though it must still be provided. A worker or trade-union representative must confirm available voice channels in writing. Employers are also asked to publish a short joint statement committing to Fair Work First.
How to apply
- Status
- lukket
- Lukker
- Vilkår for ansøgningsrunden
- Complete eligibility checks and submit supporting documents at least one week before the full application. Funded activities and all claims must be completed by 15 March 2027.
Apply as the organisation's trustees or employees through the CARES Project Portal linked from the official fund page. Contractors and installers cannot apply for you. Submit an expression of interest, then upload the organisation eligibility documents and complete identity checks. These documents include governing rules, a recent bank statement, published accounts, authority to apply, and signed equality and Fair Work declarations. Organisations under 21 months old without accounts may instead document their creation date and when their first accounts are due.
Complete eligibility checks and provide documents at least one week before your full application. This round closes at noon on 14 September 2026. After eligibility is confirmed, submit a clearly defined project, technology, site and delivery approach. Competitive assessment considers viability, community impact, deliverability and value for money. Construction work is expected to use procurement that tests the market through a fair process.
For a loan, Energy Saving Trust assesses the project, planning and grid position, costs, forecasts, governance, liabilities and ability to repay, including the effect of delays, lower income and interest-rate increases. It can adjust the amount, repayment schedule or conditions. The loan subsidy is the interest saved compared with comparable commercial borrowing and is confirmed under the CARES Grant and Loan Scheme.
Answer the portal's subsidy-control questions for grant support. Local Energy Scotland decides whether the award is a subsidy and specifies the legal basis in the offer. Awards normally use the CARES Grant and Loan Scheme. If Minimum Financial Assistance is used instead, you must declare that this award will not take that category of aid above £315,000 over the current and previous two financial years. This is a conditional public-aid limit, not the Construction grant ceiling.
Funding decisions depend on confirmed Scottish Government programme funding and permission to award it. Support is not formally committed until the Grant Offer Letter is received, signed and returned. Have your contribution from other permitted sources, called match funding, ready before contracting and drawing down money. Other Scottish Government grants and donated goods, services or time cannot count. A Scottish Government SME interest-free loan can contribute only without its cashback grant; National Lottery Community funds cannot match a National Lottery-funded CARES award.
Exclude recoverable or non-chargeable VAT. Claim the award percentage as contractor invoices arrive, and complete the funded activities and submit all claims by 15 March 2027. Acknowledge CARES in promotion and on-site signs, and take proportionate steps against supply-chain exploitation. Future project phases need separately assessed applications and future funding is not guaranteed.