Evaluation of Ynni’r Fro

The evaluation comprised four components

1. A desk review of the recent history and policy context to Ynni’r Fro.
2. An online survey of community groups that have applied to Ynni’r Fro for support.
3. Follow-up interviews with selected community groups who responded to the survey.
4. Interviews with stakeholders to discuss the design and delivery of the programme.

Main points

• The national coverage, broad remit and quality of the advice service.
• The financial support available through Ynni’r Fro.
• The fact that Ynni’r Fro is a longer term support programme than other initiatives in this area.

Main findings

The evaluation identified a number of challenges to developing a community renewable energy project; looked at the ways in which the Ynni’r Fro programme was already addressing these, and made recommendations on how this could be developed in future.

The main challenges identified were:

• the shortage of capacity, skills and experience within community groups
• difficulties in obtaining planning permission and consents
• challenges in finding funding for preparatory work and capital for scheme development.