When a fund is open, go to the application portal here.

Once a year, SECAD Partnership CLG (the Grant Making Organisation or GMO), will open each fund in order to accept applications. When open, a link to the relevant website will be added above as well as being promoted in local media.

Each potential applicant will be required to:

• Complete the application form.
• Follow the guidelines, and fill in all sections of the application form with relevant information.
• Provide supporting information as applicable.
• Submit the application form, and supporting information to the GMO.

Grants from the Funds are made retrospectively, as such; monies will only be made available to an organisation upon completion of their proposed project. For grant aid to be paid out, you must submit a grant claim form and other necessary supporting documentation as stated within the form itself and your signed contract. Incomplete claims will result in delays processing your grant.

Some successful groups may receive an advance payment of 60% of the award value. To qualify for advance payments, projects must fulfil the following qualifying criteria:

• Purchase of goods, services and equipment only
• Maximum contract value £/€6,000

Once the contract has been agreed and signed by both parties, SECAD will transfer 60% of the contract amount to the group / organisation bank account nominated by the applicant. The final payment will be made in line with the claims process outlined above.

Each fund has a suggested award value to provide guidance in relation to what size award to expect.  Please go to The Funds section of this website for further information on each individual wind farm fund.

The suggested award value is neither a minimum nor a maximum, rather an indication of the scale of resources available annually. Awards may exceed the above suggested values if a project is identified as being of significant strategic benefit to the community.

In order to accept a grant offer all contracts must be signed and returned via the link provided to the online signature platform within 15 working days of receipt.

By signing and returning, you are agreeing to a number of terms, and conditions which may be contained within the contract. Please read your contract carefully and contact SECAD if you have any questions relating to it.

All applications are appraised by the relevant Grant Making Organisation (GMO), through the use of its internal evaluation committee or an external community committee.

Throughout SECAD’s grant-making policy and specific fund/programme criteria, care is taken to assess all applications against criteria in a consistent and equitable way.

Although the decisions made by the evaluation committee / community panel are final, SECAD can provide feedback on unsuccessful applications, if requested.

The funds support projects which focus on the following themes:

• Education and skills
• Health, safety and well-being
• Environment and habitat conservation
• Energy efficiency and sustainability
• Culture and heritage
• Recreation, sport and social inclusion
• Tourism*

The ‘Area of Benefit’ or AOB is a radius of up to 10km around a wind or solar farm, which is set to ensure that communities directly neighbouring our wind farms benefit most from the funds. As such, applications from within the AOB will receive priority over all others.

In order for an application from outside the AOB to be considered for funding it must demonstrate the benefit provided to the communities within the AOB.

The supporting documentation required for each application depends largely on the type of project you are seeking support for. However, at a minimum you will be asked to provide the following:

• A copy of your organisation’s bank, credit union or post office account statement
• Quotations are required to verify the value of each item you wish to purchase, as follows:
  • Up to £/€5,000.00 – 1 quote.
  • Over £/€5,000.00 – 3 quotes.
• For works relating to renovation/construction/refurbishment:
  • Permission to proceed from land owner.
  • Planning permission, or a letter of exemption from the relevant Local Authority.
• For expenditure in excess of €10,000.00 tax clearance must be available for both the applicant and service provider for groups located in the Republic of Ireland.
• For groups located in Northern Ireland there is a template tax declaration available for use in our website www.communitybenefitfunds.ie/help, this template must be completed and uploaded to your application.

On average a fund will start six to 12 months after the wind or solar farm starts producing electricity, and will run for the lifetime of the wind farm (usually 20 to 25 years)

For a new RESS project (Renewable Electricity Support Scheme) typically a fund will open 12 months from the COD (commercial operational date) of the wind or solar farm.

Further information on RESS projects can be found here via the SEAI website https://www.seai.ie/grants/community-grants/community-benefit-funds

In most cases, applicants will be notified in writing of a decision being made within three months from the stated closing date of the Funds.

Successful applicants will receive a Provisional Letter of Offer and Contract, which will outline any conditions relating to the grant offer.

Please sign and return both copies of the contract, along with any requested documentation and return to the SECAD office.

Deferred applicants (i.e. in cases where a Fund is oversubscribed some eligible applications may be deferred to a subsequent funding round) will receive a letter informing them that their project has been deferred. The GMO may also request additional information to be provided in order for your application to be reconsidered.

The funds are available to not-for-profit community and voluntary organisations for projects which are based in the vicinity of one of our wind farms. These include, but are not limited to;

• Registered charities.
• Community development groups.
• Tidy town committees.
• Sports, and recreation clubs.
• Primary, and secondary schools.

Typically, the fund is available to community and voluntary organisations for projects which are based within a given distance of a particular wind or solar farm.

SECAD Partnership CLG administers the Renewable Energy Project Community Benefit Funds on behalf of the ESB and its joint venture partners Galetech Energy and Greencoat.

Contact details for SECAD are as follows:

Phone – +353 (0)21 461 3432

Email: info@secad.ie

Web: www.secad.ie

Post:

SECAD Partnership CLG
Midleton Community Enterprise Centre
Owennacurra Business Park
Knockgriffin
Midleton
Co. Cork
P25 Y893

RESS, or the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme, is a government initiative in Ireland that provides financial support to renewable electricity projects.  The scheme operates through a series of auctions where developers can bid for contracts to sell their generated electricity at a guaranteed price for 15 years. 

All RESS projects are required to establish a Community Benefit Fund, with a contribution of €2 per Megawatt hour of generation, to support local economic, environmental, social, and cultural initiatives. To read further information please visit this link https://www.seai.ie/grants/community-grants/community-benefit-funds.