The community energy company (CEC) established by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), held its first formal board meeting last Friday (4 February).

The chairman of the CEC was named as Lorne MacLeod, an Oban based businessman, who is a director of Scotland's first grid connected community owned windfarm, established at the end of last year on the island of Gigha.  Mr MacLeod is a former chief executive of Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise and was director of HIE's Strengthening Communities group.

All directors of the CEC are volunteers who do not receive remuneration for their posts.

Items on the board's agenda included a review of community projects seeking CEC investment, with 30 groups from the Highlands and Islands having already expressed interest in community renewable energy generation.

The CEC was developed by HIE to meet the demand for the establishment of community owned small to medium scale wind farms and other forms of renewable energy generation.  The main function of the CEC is to provide advice and financial assistance to community groups to help them generate and sell energy.

Mr MacLeod said: "I am pleased to take up the post as chairman of the community energy company, and see one of the main tasks of the company to raise awareness of the support and advice which is available to communities to take forward their own projects.

"The CEC wants to ensure communities throughout the Highlands and Islands gain direct financial benefit from renewable energy and believe ownership is the only way for communities to gain anything near the full income from renewable energy production."

The CEC will provide financial assistance for development costs of community owned schemes, including the costs of establishing an appropriate community group, feasibility work and environmental assessments necessary for a planning application.

It will also assist with the capital costs of a project.  This assistance is most likely to take the form of a shareholding that would be bought out after a number of years by the community group using revenues from the established project.  As a result the project will become wholly community owned and the CEC will be able to re-invest the capital in further community projects.

Nicholas Gubbins, head of HIE's community regeneration team, said: "I would like to congratulate Lorne and the other directors on their appointment and look forward to the CEC developing and becoming a key resource for people throughout the HIE network area.

"The CEC will merge with HIE's community energy unit (CEU) building on the success of the CEU and complementing the Scottish Executive funded Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative. 

"The CEC will assist with the development of larger scale community owned renewables as well as continuing with the small scale projects the CEU is already involved with."

For more information on the CEC or the CEU telephone: 01463 244202 or log on to: www.hie.co.uk/community-energy.html