Residents can own a stake in the Welsh community wind turbine which supplies Bristol Energy’s green customers.

Award-winning Welsh community energy society YnNi Teg has been supplying customers of council-owned Bristol Energy with clean, green electricity from its 900kW wind turbine since last summer. Now Bristol residents are being invited to buy shares in the project too.

Despite the government withdrawing support for onshore wind, community-owned wind still offers a great investment opportunity. YnNi Teg is one of the last UK onshore wind projects to be underpinned by the Feed-in Tariff. It’s offering investors a target annual rate of return of 5% over 20 years, with a minimum investment of just £100.

YnNi Teg is Welsh for “Fair Energy” and a team from Bristol Energy recently went to see for themselves how profits from buying the energy are helping support the surrounding Carmarthenshire community. They joined the pupils from nearby Meidrim primary school, a tiny school with only 22 pupils, on a visit to see the wind turbine in action.

As 11-year-old Meidrim pupil Leo said:

“Instead of polluting the air and causing global warming, renewable energy can help the planet. It will be easier for animals, plants and people to live on.”

A community benefit fund is being set up totalling over £50,000. As well as working with local schools, surplus revenues will go to Community Energy Wales, a Social Enterprise that helps and supports community groups across Wales to get community owned renewable energy projects off the ground.

Jeremy Thorp, Director, YnNi Teg, said:

“The wind power we’re generating here in Wales is already helping to supply Bristol Energy customers with clean electricity; Bristolians can also support community energy projects like ours directly by investing in our share offer and benefit from a triple-bottom-line return: making a difference to climate change, a fair average annual return of 5% and generating additional funds to support similar future community energy projects."

Simon Proctor, Origination Manager, Bristol Energy, said:

“Bristol Energy was set up to reinvest profits back into the local community, so we are very proud to be working with community energy projects like YnNi Teg, who are using their profits to set up a community energy fund, as well as supporting community energy projects across Wales.

“Recently some of the team were invited to get involved in some of the work that YnNi Teg are doing with the local school. We loved visiting and seeing the positive impact the project is having on the local community first-hand.”

The turbine is generating enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of 650 typical homes, and, thanks to the windy weather, it has been generating well above its forecast levels.

To find out more, and download a share offer document please visit http://www.ynniteg.cymru.