A wind farm in Scotland, owned by 5,600 members of the public, has welcomed hundreds of proud owners as they visited their very own turbines for the first time.
Kirk Hill Wind Farm in Ayrshire, is Scotland’s first consumer-owned wind farm, and is the second cooperative energy project from Ripple Energy.
The eight turbines began generating power in May after thousands of people came together from across Britain to form an energy ownership cooperative and raise more than £13.2m for the build in 2022.
It was the second largest cooperative raise in UK history, second only to Ripple’s third project, Derril Water solar park in Devon.
The wind farm owners now receive low-cost, clean electricity to their property via the grid and their energy supplier, saving money on their bills for the site’s lifespan and contributing to efforts against climate change.
The site has the potential to power around 20,000 households and businesses, and can supply enough energy for an average home for an entire year in less than ten minutes. It will also save nearly 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Ripple Energy works with wind farm and solar park developers to open up their projects for cooperative ownership.
Members of the public can then join the cooperative to purchase their small share. Ripple manages the entire process from raising the funds, construction of the wind farm or solar park, and ongoing operations.
Simon Peltenburg, chief projects officer at Ripple, said: “Large scale wind and solar power are the lowest cost sources of electricity we can get, and yet used to be the hardest for people to access. Sites were typically owned by utility companies and big corporations.
“But that’s no longer the case. At Ripple, we’re proving it’s possible for members of the public to be involved and reap the benefits for themselves. This is the future of energy in Britain.”
Kirk Hill Wind Farm is the second project to be delivered by Ripple Energy.
Its pilot project, a single turbine at Graig Fatha in Wales, is owned by 900 members of the public who have saved more than £1.3m collectively on their bills.
Work is also underway on Ripple’s first solar park at Derril Water in Devon, while a share offer is currently open for a 14 turbine wind farm at Whitelaw Brae in the Scottish Borders, which will surpass Kirk Hill in becoming Britain’s biggest consumer owned wind energy project.