Community Renewable Energy Fund
The government has committed $46 million to support community-based renewable energy projects to help households afford and secure the energy they need. This new Fund further supports the government’s effort to enhance resiliency in communities and trial innovative ways to store and distribute locally generated electricity.
On this page
The Fund has been established to support renewable energy projects that help communities to access secure, renewable and more affordable energy. Cheaper power can also encourage households to better heat their homes, which can lead to improved health.
The Fund focuses on supporting innovative projects that trial new ways of storing and distributing locally generated electricity. This can help inform larger-scale projects in the future.
Some communities, particularly those in remote areas and islands, don’t have reliable access to affordable energy. For example, some communities aren’t connected to the national electricity grid, and others may be at higher risk of power outages from natural hazards, such as earthquakes, storms and floods. These risks will increase with climate change. Investing in locally generated electricity helps enhance community resilience by providing an alternative and more secure source of electricity, while also increasing energy independence.
There is a range of building types that can be considered for this fund, such as:
- community housing
- community buildings
- marae
- civil defence-designated buildings.
More information will be available on the eligibility criteria when the fund’s design is finalised later this year.
This new Fund builds on the successful Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund.
Maori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund
Funding
In May 2022, the Government committed $16 million over 4 years for community-based renewable energy projects. This was expanded the following year with an additional $30 million through until 2027.
The Community Renewable Energy Funding process is being designed in collaboration with the community energy sector, and iwi and Māori organisations that were involved in the Māori Renewable Energy Fund.
More information on how to apply will be available on this webpage later in 2023.
To be alerted to updates on the Community Renewable Energy Fund, please email us at:
Funded projects
A total of $1.2 million in funding was awarded to 5 high-quality projects in 2023. These projects were unsuccessful in an earlier bid to the Māori and Public Housing Housing Renewable Energy Fund, missing only on the criteria to ‘predominantly support those in Māori or public housing housing’.
The new Fund has an expanded scope of eligible projects and given the high quality of these 5 projects, a small amount of funding was released early.
Media releases
Five community energy projects kick start, May 2023(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
Contact
For any enquires or to be updated about this Fund, please email us at: