Leicestershire CAN (Collaborate to Accelerate Net Zero), which became GreenerFuture Leicestershire, is a £2.5 million Innovate UK-funded demonstrator that shows how places can move faster from Net Zero ambition to delivery. Led by Leicestershire County Council and delivered in partnership with Energy Systems Catapult, universities, community energy organisations and network operators, the project brought together governance innovation, whole-system Local Area Energy Planning and community-led action. The programme has delivered a robust Local Area Energy Plan and, for the first time, an interactive digital LAEP Lens — enabling data-driven decision-making, greater transparency and stronger collaboration across Leicester and Leicestershire, while creating a scalable model for other regions across the UK.

The innovation

The GreenerFuture Leicestershire demonstrator represents a step-change in local energy planning and climate action by bringing together local government, universities, community partners, energy networks and national innovation expertise to accelerate progress to Net Zero. By combining advanced digital planning tools, innovative governance models, community energy pathways and shared resources, the project has delivered enhanced, affordable Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) and a pioneering digital LAEP Lens visualisation tool – enabling communities, organisations and decision-makers to explore energy system project and investment opportunities in a spatial and user-centric way.

The challenge

Local authorities and stakeholders across the UK face a range of barriers in delivering Net Zero ambitions: fragmented governance, limited planning capacity, inconsistent data frameworks, weak investment signals, and insufficient community engagement. These challenges often result in slow progress and uncertainty about where to target interventions – particularly for whole system energy planning that spans heat, power, transport and buildings.

The Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) process identifies many hundreds of thousands of potential energy system projects and investment opportunities. While a written document has clear benefits, there are limits to how much information can realistically be presented on paper and the desire for a digital more interactive LAEP has been the thrust of this challenge.

The solution

GreenerFuture Leicestershire responded with a holistic and replicable framework grounded in collaboration and innovation. Its delivery was structured around four core interconnected work packages:

1. Governance models: developing and piloting governance mechanisms to strengthen collaboration across local and regional partners, streamline decision-making and share best practices for Net Zero delivery.
2. Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP): creating a place-based whole system energy plan for Leicester and Leicestershire, underpinned by advanced digital tools that provide dynamic, spatially referenced data on energy demand, retrofit potential, EV charging needs, solar suitability and more.
3. Community energy pathway: building the capacity of community energy groups across the county, supporting the creation of locally led, low-carbon energy initiatives and enabling residents to play an active role in the energy transition.
4. Advisory service: establishing a digital repository and support hub for stakeholders to access tools, insights and guidance, ensuring broad access to the knowledge needed for local Net Zero action.

A standout delivery from the LAEP workstream is the LAEP Lens – a publicly available interactive tool that visualises key energy data across Leicester and Leicestershire, empowering users to identify tailored energy solutions and understand decarbonisation opportunities in their area.

Impact

GreenerFuture Leicestershire has made significant strides in reshaping how local energy planning is understood and operationalised:

• Democratised data access: the LAEP Lens provides an open (with no ongoing cost), interactive view of local energy data, enabling communities and organisations to understand local energy system projects and investment opportunities.
• Strengthened community energy capacity: grants and support have helped catalyse new community energy groups and projects that deliver local benefits, create jobs and build local skills.
• Governance and collaboration: piloted models have delivered stronger cross-sector coordination, offering lessons for other places seeking to embed more effective collaborative structures.
• Replicable methodology: The project’s insights, digital planning tools and governance frameworks are designed to be shared and repurposed by other local authorities — supporting national acceleration of Net Zero delivery.

By enabling improved evidence-based planning, enhanced stakeholder engagement and clearer investment signals, GreenerFuture Leicestershire is forging a path for other UK places to better align strategy, data and delivery on Net Zero ambitions.

A digital LAEP, while still highlighting current prioritised opportunities, goes further than a LAEP document which typically only shows a subset of the overall opportunities. This Leicestershire digital and interactive LAEP captures all opportunities identified through the LAEP process.

Michael Suddens, GreenerFuture Leicestershire Project Manager, said:

“GreenerFuture Leicestershire has been transformative in uniting diverse partners to overcome systemic challenges and pioneer new approaches for local energy planning and delivery. Through innovative tools like LAEP Lens, we’ve delivered unprecedented clarity and accessibility for communities and decision-makers, building a collaborative framework and evidence base, that unlocks opportunities, attracts investment and drives lasting impact. The demonstrator’s insights will be shared and scaled across the UK, helping shape the future of local energy transition.”

Next steps

Building on the success of the demonstrator, future work will focus on:

• Continuing to grow the network of community energy groups and supporting local stakeholders with capacity, finance and governance frameworks.
• Sharing lessons, insights and technical approaches through open-source guidance, workshops and advisory services to help other places accelerate their Net Zero journeys.

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