Caledonia
A RENEWABLE ENERGY CO-OP for SCOTLAND
HELP US MAKE IT A REALITY!
1. Do you have a commercially viable Renewable Energy Project?
(Wind / Solar / Biomass / hydro etc.)
2. Do you lack the capital to make it happen?
3. Would you like community involvement in the project?
Energy4All Scotland may have the solution for YOU!
Energy4All Scotland is a not-for-profit company which has developed a well-proven model of community ownership of renewable energy through co-operatives. Energy4All encourages people to be part of the renewable revolution whilst maximising the social, economic, and environmental benefits to their communities. It does this by creating co-ops to launch share offers so that the community can own a complete project, or buy a stake in a project from a commercial or private developer. By the end of 2008 Energy4All will have four co-ops trading successfully in Scotland and it has similar schemes in England that have been running successfully since the mid 1990’s.
‘Caledonia’
We now aim to create a national Scottish Co-operative, ‘Caledonia’, that will launch an ongoing investment fund that will invest in suitable renewable energy projects which are unable to raise sufficient funds themselves.
Caledonia is looking for interesting, local renewable energy projects to add to its portfolio. In return we will provide you with support and with capital invested by ordinary Scots into a national Scottish renewable energy Co-operative for the benefit of Scotland’s future.
In our experience there is substantial demand for ownership of renewable energy in Scotland. However, the extent of community ownership remains very low, especially in comparison with countries like Germany and Denmark.
Many potential investors live in urban areas where they feel powerless to reduce their carbon footprint because they don’t have access to renewable resources on their doorstep. At the same time there are landowners, small companies and community groups in rural areas who are unable to progress their projects due to lack of capital and expertise. Such projects are often of no interest to major renewable energy developers and financiers.
Energy4All Scotland aims to bring the potential investors and the rural projects together, to the benefit of everyone, by creating co-ops to raise capital and own all or part of the projects.
Through Caledonia, Energy4All Scotland could help you by:
• Giving access to capital finance with as large a local element as possible;
• Providing cost and tax savings through a collaborative approach to improve project viability;
• Providing expertise in financial modelling and tax planning;
• Bringing positive engagement with the local community;
• Providing access to the essential skills and experience to take projects forward; and
• Generally, providing the advice and support needed to turn a good idea into a viable enterprise.
If you are a landowner, a farmer, a community group or a developer, we would be delighted to hear from you if you can answer ‘Yes’ to the three questions at the start of this leaflet. At this stage it doesn’t matter how far you have got with the project; we are happy to consider projects from initial concept to full planning permission, (although the latter stands a better chance of being adopted quickly). If your project is at the very early stages, please look at www.energysteps.coop for more guidance.
