Bristol Energy Cooperative launches new investment round
£1million will be raised through a Triodos Bank UK partnership, with a share offer aimed at ‘everyday people’.
Bristol Energy Cooperative – a community-owned renewables supplier – is now entering its tenth round of fundraising, building on a 13 year record of developing clean energy infrastructure in South West England.
During this time, around £13.5million has already been invested in 20 solar and battery projects online, with a total peak capacity of 12MW. An additional £400,000 has been directed into community projects from earned revenue. Operational sites now include rooftop solar arrays on the newly refurbished Bristol Beacon music venue and The Bottle Yard Studios film and TV facility.
The organisation now wants to generate £1million through its next crowdfunding campaign, which will contribute towards further developments in the region. It is hoped an additional 1MW of solar energy could be added to the portfolio from this, powering 300 homes for 25 years and saving 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. An estimated £130,000 could be used to fund more community initiatives.
Interested parties can find more information about eligibility and terms here, with the offer open for investments between £100 and £100,000. Participants can expect a 6% annual interest rate, although this will depend on the Bristol Energy Cooperative’s performance.
‘We’ve come a long way since launching Bristol Energy Cooperative, and in that time the need for a cleaner, fairer energy system has only increased. That’s why we’ve got big plans to scale up our work to help meet the many challenges our society faces head on, and we need investors help to achieve these ambitions,’ said Helen Martin, CEO of Bristol Energy Cooperative. ‘Our investors will be actively helping to tackle the climate emergency, increase energy independence and strengthen local communities.’
‘We’ve been a proud supporter of community energy for many years, and are pleased to be working with Bristol Energy Cooperative as such an innovative organisation in this area,’ added Whitni Thomas, Head of Corporate Finance at Triodos Bank UK. ‘We find that the investors using our crowdfunding platform really ‘get’ the purpose and drive behind community-owned renewables, so we expect that they’ll be plenty of interest in support for this share offer.’
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Image: Peter Albanese