Bristol Energy Co-op is launching its tenth share offer, in partnership Triodos Bank UK, with a target of £1m to add an additional 1mW of solar energy to its portfolio.
The co-op says the offer will “tap into the growing interest from everyday investors to support green energy generation, local communities and energy independence“ and help to develop innovative new clean energy projects.
“These projects will power nearly 300 homes over 25 years,” it added, “saving 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and directing an estimated £130,000 into community projects through revenue.”
The co-op says it has bee working for 13 years “to put community at the centre of the energy transition”, and has so far invested £13.4m in 20 solar and battery projects with a total peak capacity of 12mW. It has also directed £400,000 into community projects.
Recent projects include rooftop solar on the newly refurbished Bristol Beacon music venue and the Bottle Yard Studios film and TV studio facility (pictured).
Minimum investment in the crowdfunding offer is £100, with a maximum investment amount of £100,000. The target interest rate is 6% per year.
“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,” said CEO Helen Martin. “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. Our investors will be actively helping to tackle the climate emergency, increase energy independence and strengthen local communities.”
Whitni Thomas, head of corporate finance at Triodos Bank UK, added: “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.
“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.”
In 2018, Triodos was the first bank to launch a crowdfunding platform in the UK. The bank has a history of working with community-owned renewable energy projects and has raised over £28m for a range of community energy organisations and projects across the country.
Click here for details of the share offer
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