For communities

Engaging with communities is an integral part of how we work here at Innova.

Read on to discover our Community and Charitable Promises, and how we'll work with you and your local community.

If we plan to develop a renewable energy hub near you, we’ll engage with you throughout the process – and beyond.

If a renewable energy project is proposed for development near your home, you may understandably have some questions. At Innova, we aim to treat all communities and people with respect, listening to your views and alleviating your concerns to ensure you are fully informed. What’s more, each of our projects has a community and charitable donation.

Together, we can achieve the most optimal outcome for everyone involved.

Our Community Promise

We will engage proactively with communities

We will engage with you prior to and throughout the planning and development process and listen to all feedback we receive. Where we can, we will incorporate that feedback into all of our projects.

We will seek common ground and agreement wherever we can

We understand we might not always agree. But we will always engage with our partners and fully respect your views.

Once operational, we will take good care of our sites

We have a team who monitor compliance with your planning and environmental commitments and help you to achieve a target of 100% compliance for the entire project lifetime.

For all of Innova’s solar projects entering planning from 2023 onwards we pledge:

*For example, a 50MW solar project would generate an annual community benefit payment of £12,500 and an annual charitable payment of £5,000 for the lifetime of a 40-year project, index linked. Where possible, we distribute the Community Benefit Fund to the parish council or councils whose boundary our site falls within. Charitable funds are usually paid to our chosen charity partners. Funds are paid annually for the lifetime of the project.

Community Benefit Fund of

£0

per MW, per annum*

Charity Benefit Fund of

£0

per MW, per annum*

*For example, a 50MW solar project would generate an annual community benefit payment of £12,500 and an annual charitable payment of £5,000 for the lifetime of a 40-year project, index linked. Where possible, we distribute the Community Benefit Fund to the parish council or councils whose boundary our site falls within. Charitable funds are usually paid to our chosen charity partners. Funds are paid annually for the lifetime of the project.

For all of Innova’s energy storage projects entering planning from 2023 onwards we pledge:

*For example, a 50MW BESS project would generate an annual community benefit payment of £2,500 and an annual charitable payment of £1,000 for the lifetime of a 40-year project, index linked. Innova works with carefully selected charity partners, and we allocate our charitable funds between them. We are also open to suggestions from our host communities for local charities they are aware of.

Community benefit payment of

£0

per MW, per annum*

Charitable benefit payment of

£0

per MW, per annum*

*For example, a 50MW BESS project would generate an annual community benefit payment of £2,500 and an annual charitable payment of £1,000 for the lifetime of a 40-year project, index linked. Innova works with carefully selected charity partners, and we allocate our charitable funds between them. We are also open to suggestions from our host communities for local charities they are aware of.

“The proactive, responsible, and engaging approach that the team at Innova has taken to provide both education and explanation of the planning, building, and management approach that will be taken to the solar farm has meant that any of my concerns and questions were answered in a clear and comprehensive manner.”

– Community member

Our community engagement events

Community consultation events

We carry out community consultation for each of our projects often with a consultation event in the local area. There, you will have the opportunity to meet our team, ask questions, find out more about what the project entails, and share your feedback. We will listen to all the feedback you give us and will incorporate this into all our projects wherever possible.

Education events

Education is key to understanding our renewable energy developments. We therefore run a range of events to educate members of local communities about our sites, climate change, and the benefits of solar power as a clean source of energy, including: