Glen Earrach Energy becomes second signatory to Highland Social Value Charter with pledge to create Scotland's largest ever community wealth fund

Today, Glen Earrach Energy has become the second company to sign the Highland Council’s Social Value Charter, making a significant milestone in our commitment to delivering long-term, tangible benefits for communities across the Highlands.  

The Social Value Charter, agreed by the Highland Council and the Community Planning Partnership Board in June 2024, sets out a nine-point plan to ensure that renewable energy and green infrastructure developments create lasting value for the region. It sits entirely outside the planning process – it is a clear, public commitment that where developments are approved, they deliver real and lasting community benefit.  

Signing the charter is the next step following an engagement process that began when the project was first announced. We have always believed that local communities must be partners in, and beneficiaries of, this project’s success. That belief has driven structured consultation, roundtables and independent polling of 2,000 adults nationally and a 500-person sample from the Highlands – work that shaped the publication of our Community Wealth Building Report and informed the design of our Community Wealth Fund.  

That fund will allocate 5% of the project’s annual gross margin to communities in the Loch Ness water catchment area, with 20% allocation to support strategic Highland-wide projects. If the project goes ahead, it would create Scotland’s largest ever Community Wealth Fund – valued at approximately £3 billion over the project’s initial 125-year operating term and estimated to deliver over £20 million every year.  

In addition to the Community Wealth Fund, and in line with the principles of the Charter, GEE’s commitments include:  

• Delivery of affordable housing for operational staff and the wider community, aligned with local housing plans 

• Investment in strategic infrastructure, including road improvements to the A831

• Nature restoration and enhanced outdoor access infrastructure  

• Workforce skills development to support a local recruitment pipeline  

The project is also anticipated to support the equivalent of 285 jobs during the pre-construction works, rising to 1,765 during the main construction phase, with 41 permanent roles once operational.  

Roderick MacLeod, Director of Glen Earrach Energy, said:   

“The GEE Community Wealth Fund is about more than sharing the benefits of clean energy. It is about creating long-term value for the communities who make this project possible. We have listened carefully to local priorities and worked with communities and partners to develop a model that is transparent, independent and built for the future. Our aim is simple: to create a fund that delivers real impact, not just for the next few years, but for the next hundred and beyond.  

“The 5% gross margin model provides a clear, predictable and proportionate link between the value created by the project and the value shared locally, and ensures the fund grows in line with the success of the project. That is the right relationship between a development and the communities that make it possible.”  

If you have any questions, please email info@glenearrachenergy and the team will get back to you as soon as possible.