Green-energy firm Triodos Renewables is using crowdfunding to raise £5million for new windfarm projects to add to its existing developments in Scotland.
An issue of new stock at £2.28 per share, with a minimum investment of £50.16 is aimed at making renewable-energy investment “an option to everyone”.
Triodos Renewables, which is based in the UK but managed by Netherlands-headquartered Triodos Bank, already owns and operates 11 UK windfarms producing more than 53 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough power for an estimated 34,200 homes.
They include schemes in Fife, the Sigurd single turbine site in Orkney and the Beochlich windfarm south-east of Loch Awe in Argyll.
Triodos Renewables said the proceeds from its latest fundraising would be directly invested in the construction of new renewable-energy assets in Scotland or elsewhere in the UK, allowing it to further grow its generation capacity.
The company is working with Trillion Fund, a crowdfunding platform for green energy developers, to promote and distribute the new shares.
The offer is open to both new investors and existing shareholders, and the shares are tradeable on the Matched Bargain Market, operated by Capita Share Dealing Services.
Triodos Renewables executive director Matthew Clayton said: “We’ve decided to lower our minimum investment because we believe that investing in renewable energy should be an option to everyone.
“We want to provide a rewarding connection with renewable-energy for even more people.
“In launching this share issue we are giving investors the opportunity to participate directly in the energy revolution currently taking place in the UK by taking direct ownership of some of the country’s flagship renewable power projects.”
He added: “We grew our renewable-energy generation capacity by 42% last year and generated record levels of green-energy, helping to achieve the UK’s target of generating 15% of renewable-energy generation by 2020.”
Trillion Fund chief executive Julia Groves said: “Renewable-energy can offer decent, steady returns for investors, with the added benefit of knowing your money is doing something good.
“With more than £1billion invested in renewables in 2013, ordinary investors are waking up to opportunities to put their money to work and get a share of the profits, even if they have as little as £50 to invest.”
Triodos Renewables, with almost 5,000 shareholders, says it is the UK’s most widely-owned renewable-energy company.
The firm generated record income or more than £10million last year and at December 31 its fixed assets were worth £67million.
It is currently developing two new sites in Cambridgeshire and two in Scotland, and says it is “on the right trajectory” to reach its aim of 125MW of renewable-energy operating capacity by 2020.
Crowdfunding allows a project or a business to gain funding through a large number of people who invest a relatively small amount each, usually through a website.
The equity form involves a company offering shares in return for investments.