Bro Dyfi

A Community-Owned, Community Led Wind Turbine In The Dulas Valley.

In September 1999 the initial idea for a small community-owned, community-led wind turbine in the Dulas Valley was mooted. After two years of struggling with complicated financial spreadsheets, ironing out technical details, selecting an appropriate small-scale turbine and the detailed requirements of the planning process the project is now complete.The 75kW second-hand Vestas wind turbine, located on the hill above the Centre for Alternative Technology, was commissioned on the 5th April 2003.

Inauguration Party

Project History
The idea for a community-owned wind turbine was initially conceived by a few people living in Pantperthog village and CAT in Oct 1999. In December 1999, founding members formed the Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership and applied for and successfully obtained an ERDF grant for 30% of capital costs through the Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership. Initial Lease and Power Purchase Agreement negotiations were held with the local landowner and CAT during the first half of 2000.

The first public meeting was held in May 2000. During Autumn 2000 the Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership (DVCWP) was established as a formal society so that a bank account could be opened and members' subscriptions raised in order to fund initial tasks such as the planning application and publicity to widen the group. The committee met once or twice a month as necessary in meetings which were open to members of the local community. Delegated subgroups met more frequently when there were specific things to be done: such as the environmental impact assessment, legal groundwork, technical and financial research etc.

As word about the project spread more members of the local community joined the group. Membership currently stands at 74. Local networks, like the veggie box scheme, were also approached to help raise awareness of the project. Publicity is, however, a sensitive issue and a legal minefield for projects that are considering the option of opening themselves to investment by the public, because the laws around advertising the issue of shares are very complex and very strict.

In March 2001, the Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership was successful in a bid for a grant from Scottish Green Energy Trust. The DVCWP submitted a planning proposal for a 50kW turbine to Powys County Council in April and permission was granted in early July. In August 2001 the turbine changed to a 75kW Vestas wind turbine due to planning conditions and the dollar exchange rate. In September 2001 the DVCWP was additionally successful in a bid for a grant from the Energy Saving Trust.

Methodology for developing the project
The methodology for the project development of the DVCWP turbine is outlined below.

• Form a core group of enthusiastic local individuals and formalise the group into an association.
• Identify a suitable site and willing landowner.
• Undertake a wind resource assessment if required.
• Negotiate the power purchase agreement.
• Apply for grant funding to cover development stages (if expertise not available) and to cover capital costs if required.
• Hold open public meetings and distribute information to the local community to keep them informed about the proposal.
• Develop a project proposal outline and determine project costs.
• Apply for planning permission, which may involve producing an Environmental Statement for the proposal.
• Form vehicle to take legal ownership and responsibility for developing and operating the project. In this case, DVCWP formed an Industrial and Provident Society called 'Bro Dyfi Community Renewables Ltd ' (BDCR).
• Sign lease and power purchase agreement.
• Launch share offer to enable local community to purchase shares in the project.
• Place construction contracts and order turbine.
• Construct project.
• Commission turbine and place operation and maintenance contract.
• Establish community energy fund.
• Distribute profits of project as annual dividends to shareholders of BDCR.

This process took the Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership the best part of two years to complete.

Raising the finance
The total turnkey project cost for the 75kW Vestas machine was 78,565. A breakdown of the capital costs are shown in Table 1 and a breakdown of the annual operating costs are shown in Table 2. It should be noted that some of these were commercially costed. The tasks were undertaken by members of the community with the relevant ability in kind for nominal shares in the project.

The Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership was fortunate in obtaining capital grant funding. The initial grant was for 23,569 (30% of eligible costs) of ERDF funding from the Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership's Renewable Energy Project. This was complemented by a further 10,000 grant from Scottish Power's Green Energy Trust and a further 10,000 grant from The Energy Saving Trust. At 43,569, this presently represents about 55% of the essential start up costs. The rest of the capital is expected to come as equity from community members, the Energy Saving Trust (for a community energy conservation fund) and the Baywind Co-operative who have generously agreed to support this initiative.

The Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership currently has 74 members who are indicating they wish to invest over 23,000 in the project. Without the mechanism of the Renewable Energy Investment Club (REIC) the cost and time delays of producing a formal share offer would have significantly reduced the economic viability of the project and most likely the project would not have proceeded. The involvement of REIC in the proposal is detailed later on in this paper.

The Energy Conservation fund
This project is proposed with the primary goal of achieving reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) within the local community of the Dulas and Dyfi valleys. It aims to divert a proportion of the income generated from the wind turbine into a community energy fund for investment in local energy savings measures. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) will invest up to 20,000 in the project and the returns generated from the dividends on this investment will be placed into the community energy fund. It is estimated that the wind turbine will generate about 160MWh annually. Promotion of energy efficiency measures through the community energy fund could offset a further 784MWh annually (through the provision of low energy lightbulbs).

The project is highly innovative in that it combines renewable technologies and energy efficiency measures, as part of an integrated and replicable local sustainable energy strategy, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Local benefits
The project provides significant opportunities for direct economic benefits to the Dyfi Valley.

• The work undertaken in developing the project has been carried out by members of the local community.
• The partnership has placed the construction contract with a local consortium.
• Many of the people involved in the project consortium, planning, finance and legal matters and the landowner have agreed for some or all of their work to be paid in shares in the project.
• The project will bring about 55,000 into the local economy (70% of the total project cost).
• The administration and O&M contracts have been placed locally.
• All revenue from the project will be retained within the local economy.
• The wind turbine provides renewable electricity to the Centre for Alternative Technology.
• An additional demonstration turbine and educational resource for the Centre for Alternative Technology.
• Provision of an information board.
• The project is a community-owned scheme where each shareholder has one voting share irrespective of the amount of investment.
• Approximately 50% of the annual project profit will go into a community energy fund for energy efficiency measures.
  

The Dulas Valley Community Wind model
The Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership model is based on inviting members of a community group to take shares in an Industrial and Provident Society. They will benefit from dividends in the sale of clean electricity to a local electricity consumer - CAT. Net income will be returned to the community and shared out in dividend payments over a 15 year period, the expected lifespan of the turbine. Working on the Dulas Valley initiative, perhaps as many as half of the project initiators actually work in the RE field, so in some ways this project is more of a pioneering experiment than something which could be easily replicated anywhere in any community. Though small in scale, the Dulas scheme is additionally favoured in that CAT is able to purchase the electricity generated, thereby creating a premium local market for selling the clean electricity at prices better than those presently offered by selling direct to the grid, even after anticipating the value of "green benefits" which will accrue to renewable energy generators from the Renewables Obligation and the Climate Change Levy.

Generalised conclusions
In summary, there are a number of points which should be considered by any community group which is planning a wind scheme.

• Fixed Costs are a much bigger proportion of overall project costs for small schemes.
• Premium Prices should be sought for the sale of electricity for the scheme (particularly true for small schemes).
• Premium Prices are most likely found by offsetting an existing electrical load which the turbine should be selected to match.
• Capital Grants are often required for small scale wind turbines to enable them to compete with standard investment options.
• Voluntary Labour is frequently essential to facilitate community wind projects (much of which needs high skill levels and specialist knowledge).
• Community Control community wind projects are a way for ordinary individuals to take control of a basic resource and requirement of modern living.
• Working Together - community wind is a way of getting local people working together.
• Sustainability- community wind projects get people working towards a more sustainable lifestyle (sometimes by directing profits into energy conservation or appropriate local rural renovation initiatives).