A constructive partnership for a billion-pound project.
One point of contact. One governed charity. One credible proposal that protects your social licence and your consent timeline.
The business case for community benefit
Community benefit is a small line item against project economics and a disproportionately large protection for the things that genuinely cost money: consent goodwill, social licence, ESG narrative and public communications.
The 75-kilometres-out-to-sea objection
Yes, the turbines are far offshore. The cables, the substation, the converter station and the construction traffic are not. The political and social licence to land them is granted by the people of NE Scotland.
A community-benefit programme is the cheapest way to keep that licence intact for the 30+ year operating life of the project.
How NES-CBC makes it easy
Single point of contact
You negotiate with one entity, not nine separate CCs with nine views.
Governed charity
Funds flow into a regulated charity with proper trustees, accounts and reporting.
Transparent allocation
Every pound is reported back to you and to participating CCs. No surprises.
Tax treatment
Community-benefit payments to a registered charity are normally treated as deductible operating expenditure. Your tax team will already be familiar with the structure.
Hypothetical case study
A 1 GW offshore project lands cabling on the Aberdeenshire coast. Nine local Community Councils form a single charity coordinated by NES-CBC. The operator agrees to 0.75% of gross revenue per year — around £7.5m. £840k flows to the 9-CC charity, the rest is allocated across the wider impacted region. The operator reports a single, audited annual figure. Consent goes through cleanly.
Talk to NES-CBC about your project.
One conversation. We can sketch what a credible community-benefit structure would look like for the consent you're working on.
Get in touch with Tony