DONG Energy has launched a GBP 15 million Walney Extension Community Benefit Fund to support community and environmental projects in coastal areas of Lancashire and Cumbria.
The fund is part of the community engagement programme for DONG Energy’s Walney Extension offshore wind farm, being built 9 kilometres off the Cumbrian Coast. On completion in 2019, the 660-megawatt wind farm will be the world’s biggest, capable of meeting the electricity needs of more than half a million UK homes.
Approximately GBP 500,000 will be available in the main fund to support community and environmental projects for each of the 25 years that the Walney Extension will be operating.
An additional GBP 100,000 will be ring-fenced annually for a skills fund that will support a range of educational and training initiatives designed to equip people for working in engineering industries like offshore wind. Details of how the skills fund is to be managed will be announced over the next few months.
“This fund recognises the long-term relationship which the Walney Extension offshore wind farm has with the region. We believe it is important to support local communities in the areas around our developments and the new fund gives us an opportunity to make a difference,” Brent Cheshire, UK Country Chairman for DONG Energy, said.
“We rely on local co-operation through the construction phase of such a major infrastructure project and, although the wind farm will be located well off the coast, the establishment of an operations and maintenance team based in the region throughout the lifetime of the wind farm will provide long-term local recruitment opportunities.”
The community benefit fund will be managed for DONG Energy by the national grant-making charity Grantscape.
Applications for grants of between GBP 500 and GBP 75,000 from the main fund must be from community and environmental organisations located in coastal community areas in areas stretching between Fleetwood in Lancashire to Seascale in Cumbria. A detailed map, searchable by postcode, showing these areas as well as details of how to apply for a grant is available here.