Top 7 Public Consultation Platforms for Renewables in 2026

The best public consultation platform for a renewable energy project is one that holds up when the examining authority asks for evidence. For NSIP-scale wind, solar and grid projects under the Planning Act 2008, you need to prove who you consulted, when, how and what you did with their feedback. That evidence test, not the prettiness of the feedback map, is what separates the options below.

This guide ranks seven platforms used on UK renewable energy developments, from full stakeholder relationship management (SRM) systems to consultation-only portals. Tractivity is listed first because it's the one we know best and build, so we've kept its entry spec-level and honest, and described every alternative fairly so you can judge the fit yourself.

At a glance: the seven platforms compared

Based on publicly available information, reviewed August 2026. Vendor positions change, so check each supplier's own current published material before you shortlist.

1. Tractivity

Tractivity is a UK stakeholder relationship management (SRM) platform built for organisations running engagement at scale, and it is listed first because we build it. Of the platforms compared on this page, it is the one designed around a single defensible record of who was engaged, when, how and what changed as a result. Every email, meeting, call, survey response, event and feedback comment is logged against the stakeholder it relates to, date-stamped and exportable, ready for an examining authority, an FOI request or an Ofgem RIIO submission.

That matters because renewable consultation isn't a communications exercise; it's a legal one. Under the Planning Act 2008 and the Gunning Principles, you have to show consultation was genuine and that responses were conscientiously taken into account. Tractivity captures the whole lifecycle, before, during and after consultation, in one place, with surveys, events and consultations run through its public engagement portal so responses link straight to the stakeholder record.

The renewables track record is specific. EDF Energy used Tractivity across the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C consultation programmes, logging and tagging around 30,000 stakeholder issues at a 100% response rate, with 130,000+ engagements and 650+ events evidenced. SSEN has run on Tractivity since 2018, scaling from 15 to over 200 users. National Grid has 430+ users in a phased deployment, with around 90% remaining after a year. Tractivity supports 112+ named clients across eight sectors, including energy generators, distribution network operators and transmission owners, such as Scottish Power Renewables, SSE Renewables, RWE and Flotation Energy.

On compliance, Tractivity holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus, NHS DSPT and is a G-Cloud supplier, with UK data residency on Microsoft Azure UK South. Its published, all-inclusive pricing is £9,495 base plus £500 per additional user, with no paid modules, no record caps and no onboarding fee. Implementation runs four to six weeks.

Strengths: audit-ready record across the full lifecycle, deep UK renewables references, transparent pricing, UK hosting and accreditations.

Worth knowing: it's purpose-built for organisations that have outgrown spreadsheets, so very small teams running a single light-touch consultation may not need its full depth.

Best for:  developers, DNOs and consultancies looking for stakeholder management software for energy projects that evidences consultation on NSIP and grid schemes.

2. Borealis

Borealis is an enterprise SRM platform developed in Magog, Quebec and, since October 2025, owned by Irth Solutions of Columbus, Ohio, with genuine analytical depth in stakeholder mapping, sentiment and grievance handling. It has a strong reputation in North American oil, gas and mining, where land access and grievance modules matter most.

For UK renewables, three things are worth checking. Pricing is modular: Borealis publishes Essential, Professional, and Enterprise packages with no figures, marks Smart Communications, SMS Messaging, and Offline mode as add-on features, and states that onboarding and configuration carry a one-time fee whose amount it does not disclose. Its G-Cloud 14 listing, service ID 738894393875442, prices the platform at £1,137 to £2,674 per user per year, based on documents dated April and May 2024, so ask for a current quotation that names every add-on.

On hosting, Borealis publishes production regions in Canada, France and Australia and no UK region, and its G-Cloud entry declares EEA and other locations rather than the United Kingdom, so a UK-only residency requirement is a question to put to them in writing.

Their UK page carries client logos including Cavendish Nuclear, Outer Dowsing, Voltalia and Thakeham, though we found no UK case study on the site as at August 2026.

Best for: multinational infrastructure and energy programmes where land access, social investment and grievance workflows are central.

3. Citizen Space (Delib)

Citizen Space is a UK consultation portal, well established across central government, regulators and councils. It does one job well: publishing formal consultations, capturing responses and reporting on them, with strong UK government references.

The distinction for renewables is scope. Delib describes Citizen Space as "a consultation and engagement platform", and its G-Cloud 14 listing names "Tools for citizens and residents panels, stakeholder and expert groups". As at August 2026, we found no published feature for logging individual interactions against a named stakeholder record, and no commitment or obligation tracker; the nearest published mechanism is the public "We Asked, You Said, We Did" loop-closing function.

If your scheme also involves landowner negotiations, political engagement and event attendance held against the same record, ask Delib directly what Citizen Space covers and what would sit in a second system.

Best for: teams whose core need is publishing statutory consultations and capturing structured responses.

4. Commonplace

Commonplace, now powered by Zencity, is a UK digital community insights, engagement and consultation platform built around map-based, inbound feedback, with a track record on UK offshore wind and solar consultations. The interface is modern, and it's designed to gather community sentiment visually, which works well for the public-facing phase of a planning or energy consultation.

Its published focus is inbound community feedback and insight rather than a private staff-side stakeholder record. Zencity states that "our analysis of the data is always done on an aggregate basis and is not designed to identify or pinpoint any individual", and its "Commonplace Select" feature is described as engaging a predefined list of stakeholders for statutory engagements. Its G-Cloud 14 listing answers "API: No", so ask how data would move into whatever holds your regulator, landowner and political engagement.

Best for: the visual, community-facing layer of a consultation, particularly planning and local engagement.

5. Granicus EngagementHQ

EngagementHQ is the Sentiment and Feedback capability inside Granicus Engagement Cloud, from US-headquartered Granicus, which contracts in the UK as GRANICUS-FIRMSTEP LIMITED. Granicus states that over 400 public sector organisations in the UK and Ireland work with it, naming the Met Office, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Durham County Council and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, and it has an office at 7 Harp Lane, London.

For UK renewables specifically, two things are worth checking. Its G-Cloud 14 listing declares UK data storage on AWS and prices EngagementHQ at £12,000 a unit a year, with an established range to £32,000, on a listing verified August 2026, so get a quotation scoped to your project count.

Granicus files EngagementHQ under a feedback and listening category rather than stakeholder relationship management. As at August 2026, we found no published feature for logging individual interactions against a named stakeholder record or for tracking commitments; the nearest published equivalent is its "Participant Relationship Management (PRM) database with audience segmentation".

Best for: organisations wanting a wide civic-engagement toolkit across many channels.

6. Simply Stakeholders

Simply Stakeholders, a trading name of Darzin Software Pty Ltd of Chatswood, New South Wales, positions itself as "Stakeholder Intelligence for a Complex World", with stakeholder mapping, AI-driven issue detection and sentiment insight. It publishes no prices. Its own homepage names energy clients including Drax, Statkraft, Var Energi and Goldwind, so it does work in the sector, though we found no named UK public sector client on its site as at August 2026.

Three points matter for UK public-sector and regulated renewables work.

On accessibility, Simply Stakeholders' own published position on its Jambo comparison page is "WCAG compliance in progress", with no version or conformance level stated, and we found no accessibility statement and no VPAT on its site as at August 2026.

On procurement credentials, it publishes ISO 27001 certification, with a Sensiba certification mark added to its footer in February 2026, SOC 2 and a public Vanta trust page, and hosts on Microsoft Azure with a named UK region; we found no Cyber Essentials Plus claim and no G-Cloud listing as at August 2026.

On packaging, its own pricing page places email sending, SMS, surveys, commitments tracking and grievance management on the Plus tier or above, and offline access and API access on Pro only, so check which of the capabilities you need sit inside the tier you are quoted. It publishes no support hours or time zones, so ask for them in writing.

Best for: teams that want stakeholder mapping, AI issue detection and sentiment analysis, and that do not need a G-Cloud route to market.

7. Jambo

Jambo, of Edmonton, Alberta, describes itself as "Jambo Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) software", "purpose-built software for teams who need to prove they engaged". It covers contact and organisation records, interaction logging, issues, commitments including recurring ones, and Jambo Geospatial with embedded Esri map viewers, and it is an Esri Gold partner. It is part of the Silvacom Group of Companies.

For UK renewables, several things are worth checking.

As at August 2026, we found no native survey or consultation tooling published on their site; surveys are handled through Zapier connections to tools such as Typeform and SurveyMonkey, and there's no public-facing consultation website or engagement portal.

In-platform mass mailing is marked "coming soon" on their pricing page, and campaigns and communications is an add-on module.

Their published support commitment runs to Alberta hours, but the details conflict: terms of service define Business Hours as 8:00am to 4:30pm Mountain Time (roughly 15:00 to 23:30 UK time), while their UK marketing page states a helpdesk window of 9:00am to 11:30pm GMT. Ask which applies to your contract.

Their logo wall names University of Cambridge, the Low Carbon Contracts Company and ENGIE, but they were not listed on G-Cloud 14 when we checked the Digital Marketplace supplier index in August 2026, their own comparison page says an application is in progress and expected by September 2026.

Jambo Professional is published at $995 a month for five users, low-cost at the entry tier, but the per-user rate, add-on module prices and a one-time onboarding fee are stated to exist without being published.

Best for: teams that want contact records, interaction logging, commitments and Esri mapping, and that can work with Alberta-hours support.

How to choose for a renewable energy project

Start from the evidence test, not the feature list. Ask three questions: 

• Can the platform produce a defensible, exportable record of who you engaged, when, how and what you did with their feedback?

• Does it hold the whole relationship, regulators, landowners, communities and politicians, or just one channel?

• Does it publish what your procurement team will ask for, a G-Cloud listing, ISO 27001 with its version and scope, Cyber Essentials Plus, a stated hosting region and a WCAG conformance level with a dated statement?

For a single, time-boxed community consultation, a portal like Citizen Space or Commonplace may be enough. For an NSIP or grid project that has to stand up to an examining authority over years, a full SRM record is the lower-risk choice. To weigh the SRM platforms here side by side, you can also compare your options for energy stakeholder management.

Whichever platform makes your shortlist, the deciding question is the same: can it evidence your engagement when it counts?

If you'd like to see how Tractivity holds that record for renewable projects, get in touch and the team would be happy to set up a short demo around your scheme.