Glen Earrach Energy to give 5% of gross margin revenues to Highland communities in major energy first

• Glen Earrach Energy confirms UK’s largest community wealth fund, committing 5% of gross margin revenues to Highland communities — worth over £20 million annually.

• The fund has been shaped through a first-of-its-kind, developer-led research process, combining local consultation and national polling to inform priorities, structure and governance.

• National polling shows 71% of Scots support community benefit from renewables, with strong public backing for community-led decision-making.

Glen Earrach Energy (GEE), developer of one of the UK’s largest and most water efficient pumped storage hydro (PSH) projects, has confirmed it will contribute 5% of gross margin revenues from its proposed scheme to support long-term investment in Highland communities — a commitment expected to deliver over £20 million a year throughout the operational lifetime of the project.

The announcement is underpinned by the publication of a new developer-led research report, the first of its kind in the UK energy sector, which brings together national polling, public consultation, and direct input from communities. The report marks a major step in the development of the fund, setting out emerging priorities, design principles and governance themes that reflect what GEE has heard to date and will help guide the next phase of engagement.

At this scale, GEE’s Community Wealth Fund will be the largest of its kind anywhere in the UK energy sector. It has been developed through direct consultation with local residents, community organisations, and regional partners, ensuring that the fund’s structure, priorities, and delivery model reflect the communities whose resources and infrastructure will underpin the project, whilst providing meaningful benefit for the wider region.

Subject to planning, the project will provide up to 34GWh of long-duration energy storage in 2030, playing a vital role in helping balance the grid and stabilise the UK’s transition to net zero.

A value-based approach shaped through consultation

GEE’s approach reflects a long-term partnership with the Highlands. GEE recognises that successful infrastructure depends not only on the land it occupies and water it uses, but also on the local services, roads and communities that support it.

Engagement began in May 2024, with community drop-ins across Glen Urquhart, Stratherrick and Foyers, followed by a formal community benefit consultation in spring 2025 and three roundtables with community leaders and experts.

The fund will be rooted in the communities that share the key water resource underpinning the scheme, with scope to contribute to wider regional projects, including contributions to a Strategic Fund for the Highlands as a whole. GEE is already working closely with partners including local community councils, the Highland Council, Soirbheas, and Foundation Scotland, to design a governance and delivery model that aligns with the principles of the Highland Council’s Social Value Charter, and is independent, accountable and built to last.

The fund will focus on key areas including:

• Housing and infrastructure

• Jobs, skills and local enterprise

• Environmental stewardship and nature restoration

• Community wellbeing and future generations

National polling confirms public support for long-term, community-aligned infrastructure

GEE commissioned independent polling by Opinium in February 2025 to complement the consultation process to understand broader public attitudes to energy infrastructure and community benefit.

Polling of over 2,000 Scottish adults found:

• 71% support community benefit funds as part of renewable energy projects

• 38% said lower local energy bills should be the top priority for such funds

• 73% said decisions on spending should be made by the community itself, not government or developers

• 51% of Highlanders said the local area should receive the greatest share of benefit

Angus MacDonald MP, who represents the project area and has long championed a more substantial deal for rural communities, said: 

“One of my first major campaigns after being elected was to ensure that communities who host clean energy infrastructure see the benefits from it. Over the past year, I have repeatedly raised this issue in Parliament and had meetings with communities, Ministers and energy companies to try and deliver a breakthrough.

“In my maiden speech to Parliament, I proposed that 5% of revenue from new renewable projects should go to the communities that support them. That idea was rooted in the belief that if rural areas are asked to host nationally significant infrastructure, they should see lasting, tangible benefit in return. 

“Glen Earrach Energy committing to 5% of gross margin is recognition that communities deserve a meaningful stake in the transition happening around them. This shows what’s possible when developers take local leadership seriously, and I hope it sets a precedent across the sector.” 

Rachel Searle, Head of Communities and Impact at Foundation Scotland, said: 

“At a time when the wider policy environment of community benefit has become quite contested it is exciting to see such a pioneering and ambitious community benefit opportunity emerging from Glen Earrach Energy which recognises the wide ranging and sustained benefits that can be achieved at different levels with a project of this scale. 

“Glen Earrach Energy have achieved this through their own rooted understanding of the area, their considered engagement with stakeholders – especially those communities most directly impacted by the project – and an openness to building on and learning from what’s gone before.  

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 full report can be viewed here.