A pioneering energy co-operative established to overcome the shortage of up front finance needed to develop community wind farms today, 21 May, announced that it has successfully raised £1million – the maximum amount it was seeking - through an innovative share issue.

Energy Prospects is a co-operative that will undertake, on behalf of community projects, the costly and risky stages leading to obtaining planning permission.

Energy Prospects will help overcome a major barrier to the further expansion of community energy co-operatives in the UK – namely the lack of access to funds and resources to take a potential project through the planning process. Support from Energy Prospects will enable a project to implement, for example, environmental surveys, archaeological assessments, wind energy assessments, and all the other components that go into what is typically a very detailed planning application. Upon receiving planning permission, the projects will raise share capital through their own share offers, whilst paying Energy Prospects a fee.

Energy Prospects is itself co-operatively owned and run, and the share issue met its target through the willingness of nearly 500 individuals and organisations to invest.

Said Rod Blunden, Chairman of Energy Prospects, “Hitting our target in such a short time demonstrates the real enthusiasm for co-operatively owned renewable energy generation in the UK. We have the best wind resource in Europe, but progress in community ownership of this resource has been slow. In our board meetings we are already examining taking 3 wind farm projects through the planning system, each of around 5 MW in size, which would be a major step forward for what is currently a family of 7 renewable energy co-ops created since 1997. And we’re looking forward to hearing from other viable community energy projects needing assistance with obtaining planning consent.”

Andrew King, chair of Energy4All, the social enterprise behind the creation of Energy Prospects, added “We’re looking forward to adding to the family of seven wind energy co-operatives already launched. Energy Prospects now makes this possible. The success of the share launch just underlines once again the latent demand for this form of ownership, and the potential for repeating this venture in the future. I would also like to thank the Co-operative Group for giving generous help in supporting the share offer. They have again provided practical assistance when we needed it most and have enabled us to open a new chapter in co-operative ownership of renewable energy in the UK, working closely with the board of the new Energy Prospects co-operative.”

Paul Monaghan , Head of Sustainability at the Co-operative Group said: “Communities are much more likely to engage positively with renewable energy projects if they have the opportunity to share in the economic benefits. The Co-operative Group has provided some £300,000 in support of a series of share issues for individual wind farms and micro-hydro schemes, but much, much more capital and support is needed. Energy Prospects offers the chance to see a step change in community ownership and perhaps we’ll even see Government sit up and get behind this in a big way.”

Editor’s Notes:

Contact:         Simon Williams, Director of Marketing, Energy4All

simon.williams@energy4all.co.uk

m: 07710 865 224

Energy4All: Is the UK's leading social enterprise promoting community ownership of renewable energy. Established in 2002, the company creates and manages renewable energy co-operatives established as Industrial and Provident Societies and operating on the democratic principle of “one member, one vote”.

The company runs on a not-for-profit basis and is owned by the co-operatives it creates.

Energy Prospects: An independent co-operative with its own board and decision authorities. Wholly owned by its member-investors.

The Co-operative Group: aims to be one of the UK’s leading businesses in terms of combating climate change. The business is an active champion for renewable energy. It sources 98% of its electricity from renewables sources, it built the UK’s largest solar power project, has supported renewable energy installations on nearly 200 schools across the UK and owns and develops wind farms.

The Co-operative has supported Energy4All for a number of years through grants made possible from its Enterprise Hub to support new co-operative projects to combat climate change.

Further information about The Co-operative Enterprise Hub is available by visiting www.co-operative.coop/enterprisehub.

For more information contact:
Dave Smith The Co-operative Group Press Office 0161 827 5614 e-mail dave.smith@co-operative.coop
Andrew Torr The Co-operative Group Press Office 0161 827 5622 e-mail andrew.torr@britannia.co.uk

Energy4All Project Profiles: Comprehensive case studies available on request. More details of all Energy4All projects at www.energy4all.co.uk

Baywind Co-op: Operated two share offers, the first of which raised £1.2m in 1996 to purchase two turbines at an existing wind farm. The second share offer paid for a turbine at a neighbouring site. The community interest generated by these projects provided the impetus for the creation of Energy4All.

Fens Co-op: Two out of eight wind turbines on an existing wind farm.  Purchased by the Fens Co-op after successfully raising £2.66 million in its share offer.