The UK’s first consumer-owned wind farm has been given the green light and backed by a £1m of funding.
The startup Ripple Energy has secured investment from the Welsh Government for the Craig Fatha consumer-owned wind farm, which will be located near Coedely in South Wales.
The farm is owned by 675 households who have already signed up to the platform and who have collectively raised over £1.3m. It will go live by autumn 2021.
Other households can sign up to the Ripple Energy platform and purchase a share of the new wind farm for as little as £25.
Ripple estimates that each of the ones will save up to 25% on their electricity bills each year across the wind farm’s 25 year lifetime.
Sarah Merrick, CEO and Founder of Ripple Energy, comments: ‘This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Come Christmas, Ripple’s members will be supplied with green electricity from their very own wind farm. This is a first for the UK. It shows people can play a really active role in the UK’s clean energy future.
‘Ripple’s mission is to make clean energy ownership affordable and accessible. We’re hugely grateful to the Welsh Government for its involvement in making that a reality. For too long, people have been sidelined; now they can share the benefits of green energy direct. This is just the beginning of us putting the power in the hands of household consumers.’
