In the survey that we launched at Community Energy Fortnight, we found that for at least two in five community groups, legal assistance and/or access to legal template documents would help them get clean energy projects off the ground.

To that end, together with Pure Leapfrog, our not-for-profit partner dedicated to making low-carbon transition accessible and affordable for all, we’ve now added key legal templates to the PowerPaired website. We hope they will facilitate collaboration between community energy groups and asset owners.

Developed in partnership with legal experts, these templates range from a sample Memorandum of Understanding to template lease, license and purchase agreements. They will be useful to community energy organisations and asset owners alike in navigating their way through the various stages involved in starting a community energy project.

The legal templates can be accessed by logging in to your user account on PowerPaired – please register if you have not already done so – and clicking on the Resources tab on the left. They can be downloaded and used free of charge, but please do consider making a donation to Pure Leapfrog if you have used them to successfully implement a new project.

Pure Leapfrog is also running an innovation programme which designs and delivers replicable energy models to communities in the UK. Such smart energy models can link energy supply, storage and use, as well as heating and transport in ways that dramatically improve efficiency. Examples of two such projects follow:

  1. REWIRE NW – An Innovate UK supported and mission-led Smart Local Energy System for the Warrington Borough Council, incorporating transport, housing, energy and connectivity. The system will be designed to deliver social & environmental outcomes first.
  2. 5G New Thinking explores how remote and rural communities can access and benefit from 5G technology; combining it with renewable energy infrastructure, in particular wind turbines.

Find out more about Pure Leapfrog’s innovation programme here.

Do you have any feedback on these template documents? What other legal templates would you find useful? Let us know at [email protected]