Members of Ripple Energy’s Graig Fatha wind farm are set to save around £783 on their electricity bill in 2023, three times the amount saved in 2022.
The wind farm in Wales is the first co-owned asset from the company, with more than 900 people around the UK owning a chunk of it for the 25 years of the wind farm’s life.
How much is saved on the owners electricity bills depends on the annually negotiated purchase price for power from their wind farm, which for 2023 is set at 27p/kWh, up from 9.63p/kWh in 2022.
As such, it means the typical co-owner will save nearly £800 over the coming year, up from the £275 typical saving in 2022.
The increased rate means the payback time for the initial upfront cost of acquiring a piece of the Graig Fatha wind farm is falling from 14 years as initially anticipated, to within four to six years at this rate.
In particular amid the current high energy bills for consumers, the increased savings can help to keep bills more stable. While the Energy Price Guarantee is currently limiting the cost of electricity to 34.0p/kWh, this leaves the typical household paying £2,500 a year. This is still nearly double the level that the price cap was set at for the winter period last year, when the typical household had its energy bill capped at £1,277.
“We are so pleased that we have secured our Graig Fatha members such substantial bill savings,” said Ripple founder and CEO Sarah Merrick.
“The purpose of Ripple is to give real people across the UK access to renewable energy ownership so that they can benefit direct from its low and stable costs. The huge bill savings our members will see shows owning a bit of a wind farm really does protect people from spiralling energy prices.”
In addition to the individual savings the higher power price has led to, it will increase the amount going to its Community Benefit Fund. Ripple is currently estimating that £450,000 will be paid into the fund over the next year, helping to support those in fuel poverty.
Graig Fatha began operation in Coedely, South Wales in March 2022, and is the first in a growing pipeline from Ripple Energy.
The second wind farm, an eight-turbine project in Ayrshire, Scotland is currently under construction, and is owned by over 5600 people. It is expected to be operation in late 2023. Over 13,000 people have reserved a place for Ripple’s third, yet unnamed, project.
Ripple Energy was founded in 2017, and its business model unveiled in 2019. In 2020, it officially launched after entering into a deal with Octopus Energy and Co-op Energy.
