Overview

Highland Council’s Social Value Charter for Renewable Energy is a pioneering framework that ensures renewable energy development across the region delivers long-term, inclusive, and measurable benefits for local communities. As the volume and scale of renewables in Highland continue to grow, the Charter establishes clear expectations for developers regarding community benefit, local investment, skills development, and infrastructure contributions.

The Charter is not a regulatory instrument, but a shared values-based agreement that aligns energy generation with the economic, social, and environmental priorities of Highland communities. It applies to all forms of renewable development—onshore wind, solar, hydro, energy storage—and sets out guiding principles and delivery pathways that developers are expected to align with as part of their planning and partnership with the Council.

The Charter ensures that renewable development is not just about generating clean power but also about delivering fair, lasting benefits for people and places across the Highlands. It is a practical tool to embed Just Transition principles into energy investment, so communities who host and enable renewable energy are equal partners in its success.

Gap the project addresses

Despite Highland’s significant contribution to Scotland’s renewable electricity generation—producing more than six times its own demand—local communities have not consistently benefited from the infrastructure hosted in their area. Developers have historically taken varied approaches to community benefit, with inconsistent delivery on local priorities, employment, and infrastructure support.

The Charter addresses this gap by introducing a consistent framework that centres social value in all stages of project development, ensuring that renewables support a fair transition, economic opportunity, and local resilience.

Ownership Model

The Charter promotes inclusive models of ownership and benefit-sharing. While the Council does not mandate a single approach, it encourages a spectrum of options including joint ventures, shared equity, community benefit societies, and strategic partnerships that empower communities to shape and share in the success of renewables. The Council retains a stewardship role, monitoring developer commitments and acting as a convener to align public, private, and community interests.

Policy and funding

The Charter is underpinned by Highland Council’s planning guidance, Net Zero Strategy, and Community Wealth Building approach. It aligns with Scottish Government policy objectives under the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. While no direct funding has enabled the Charter, it has been developed through internal collaboration across planning, climate, and economic development services, and with input from community groups, industry, and elected members.

Impact to date

1. Over £10 million in community benefit payments were made in Highland in 2023, with the Charter setting a higher benchmark of £7,500/MW/year adjusted for inflation.
2. Over 60 communities currently receive some form of community benefit from renewables.
3. The Charter is driving developer commitments to local supply chain engagement, skills academies, and Regional Infrastructure.
4. Several developers are now piloting shared ownership models in response to the Charter’s guidance, with a pipeline of projects being scoped for co-investment.

The Charter sets out a dual funding structure designed to retain more value in Highland:

1. £5,000 per MW per year goes directly to host communities.
2. £7,500 per MW per year contributes to a Strategic Fund for wider Highland priorities such as housing, skills, and infrastructure.

This approach ensures both local benefits and regional fairness. For example, a 50 MW project will now provide £625,000 annually:

• £250,000 for local community priorities.
• £375,000 for strategic regional projects.

Over the lifetime of a project, this represents a major shift in how renewable energy delivers value—transforming it from a private enterprise into a shared social asset that underpins the Just Transition.

The Charter is also driving:

• Jobs and skills: developers committing to apprenticeships and training pathways that prepare young people for green careers.
• Shared ownership pilots: new models of co-investment allow communities to share in long-term returns.
• Local supply chain growth: greater emphasis on Highland-based contractors and services, strengthening businesses and retaining economic value locally.

Just transition

The Highland Council Social Value Charter for Renewable Energy actively supports Scotland’s Just Transition Outcomes by ensuring that renewable energy development delivers real, lasting benefit to the people and places most directly impacted by change.

By centring community priorities—such as warm homes, skilled jobs, transport access, and digital connectivity—the Charter transforms renewables from a private sector activity into a shared social asset. Developers are expected to make commitments not just to environmental performance, but to fair work, inclusive employment, and place-based reinvestment.

The Charter directly addresses the risk of regional inequality, ensuring rural and remote communities that host energy infrastructure benefit fairly. It also supports climate resilience by promoting projects that contribute to adaptation goals, nature recovery, and low-carbon community services.

The Charter’s 9-point plan ensures that renewable energy development in Highland actively reduces inequalities and creates opportunity:

• Community Funds – direct benefit to host communities.
• Strategic Fund – a region-wide fund to share prosperity fairly.
• Housing – legacy housing provision or contributions to local housing.
• Highland Investment Plan – leveraging investor support for community projects.
• Shared Investment – opportunities for communities to co-own renewable energy.
• Skills and Training – apprenticeships, STEM pathways, and workforce development.
• Match Funding – additional support for community-led projects.
• Grid Connections – collaborative planning to avoid bottlenecks and ensure fair access.
• Planning Benefits – socio-economic benefits embedded in every planning decision.

Governance

A Fair and Inclusive Approach: Governance is central to a Just Transition. The Charter ensures decision-making is transparent and inclusive through two levels:

• Community Funds (£5,000/MW)
  • Managed by local trusts, charities, or elected panels.
  • Communities set their own priorities, from tackling fuel poverty to investing in local services.
• Strategic Fund (£7,500/MW)
  • Overseen by a Strategic Fund Partnership, including councillors, public agencies, developers, and community representatives.
  • Directs investment into long-term priorities such as housing, employability, connectivity, and regional infrastructure.

This model empowers communities to shape their own development while also addressing wider regional needs, ensuring fairness across Highland.

Regional Heritage and Historical Context

Highland communities have long contributed to national energy systems—from hydroelectric power in the 20th century to the rapid deployment of onshore wind. Yet economic ownership and benefit have historically flowed elsewhere. The Charter builds on this legacy, acknowledging past imbalances and repositioning Highland communities as equal partners in shaping the next generation of energy.

It also reflects a broader movement across Highland to protect local assets and empower communities through mechanisms such as community land ownership, local enterprise initiatives, and digital inclusion—all of which are supported through social value delivery.

Local and National Benefits

• Promotes regional economic justice by retaining more value from energy production in Highland.
• Strengthens local authority capacity to negotiate social outcomes, ensuring communities are not left behind.
• Supports the development of skills pipelines and training in areas like turbine maintenance, energy planning, and low-carbon construction.
• Fosters greater developer-community trust, reducing conflict and streamlining project delivery.
• Provides a replicable model that other local authorities and regional partnerships across Scotland can adopt or adapt.
• Encourages alignment between private investment and public need, unlocking greater co-benefits from each project.

Lessons learned

• The Charter has proven a powerful tool for constructive engagement with developers, shifting the conversation from voluntary community benefit payments to structured, strategic value alignment.
• Communities are more likely to support renewable development when they can see a direct, tangible benefit—especially when those benefits are shaped by local priorities.
• Internal collaboration across council services—particularly planning, legal, energy, and economic development—has been critical to embedding the Charter as standard practice.
• Developers are increasingly willing to go beyond minimum expectations when social value is clearly articulated, tracked, and championed.

Constraints and challenges

• The Charter is a non-statutory instrument; while its uptake has been strong, enforceability remains dependent on good-faith partnership and planning influence.
• Variation in developer capacity to deliver high-value social outcomes has led to some inconsistency. Ongoing engagement and capacity building are required.
• Communities may lack the technical expertise or resources to participate fully in shared ownership or strategic benefit planning. Council facilitation remains essential.
• Monitoring and reporting of outcomes need to be scaled up, with a focus on transparency, accountability, and impact evaluation.

Replication and scaling

The Charter has been designed to be replicated both within Highland and across other Scottish local authorities. Its success lies in being values-led but flexible—offering developers clear principles and pathways while allowing for locally tailored delivery.

Highland Council has already shared the Charter framework with other regions and supported peer learning. With appropriate national policy support (e.g. via NPF4 or the Just Transition Plan), the Charter model could be embedded more widely in local planning guidance and national procurement frameworks.

Main barriers to wider replication include:

• The need for resourced local authority teams to negotiate, monitor, and manage social value commitments.
• Absence of national standardisation on social value in the renewables sector, which creates uncertainty for developers and communities alike.
• Balancing the speed of deployment with meaningful local engagement, especially under pressure to meet 2030 targets.

Nonetheless, the Charter demonstrates that delivering renewable energy with public value at its core is not only possible but necessary to achieve a fairer, greener Scotland.

Working conditions and fair work practices

Featured organisations and initiatives were asked to supply the following information regarding working conditions:

• Alignment with Scottish Government Fair Work First criteria
• If they have gone beyond Fair Work First by incorporating broader values on fair work
• For larger organisations, whether a union recognition agreement is in place.

This did not apply to co-operatives structures and membership-based initiatives, though all projects and initiatives were given room to provide any detail on fair work practices deemed relevant.

The following information was provided:

A Just Transition means that the move to net zero must deliver good, secure, and fairly paid jobs. The Charter requires developers to adopt Highland’s Employer Charter, which includes:

• Fair Work First principles.
• Commitment to the Real Living Wage.
• Creation of apprenticeship and training opportunities.

Some investors are already going further by:

• Expanding training pathways.
• Opening opportunities for under-represented groups in technical roles.
• Offering flexible working practices that suit rural communities.

By embedding fair work into every project, the Charter ensures renewables support dignified employment and economic opportunity alongside clean energy.