Ripple Energy

The main innovation in this project appears to be that investors will be paid back through a reduction in their electricity bills, rather than paying interest or dividends directly, but it's not obvious to me why that is an advantage.  There is a 'feel good' factor of having the illusion of receiving electricity directly from your own wind farm, but the reality is that the project will feed into the national grid just like all other generators.

The prospectus shows forecasts of return on investment on page 28, based on estimates of future electricity prices and the amount of electricity generated (which depends on wind).  Based on the Government's mid-range forecast for electricity prices, a level of electricity generation that is 75% likely to be achieved, and a 20-year project lifespan, they project a 3.2% return on investment, which is much lower than what I initially estimated using the "quote" system on their website.  They forecast that returns could range from as low as -0.8% to as high as 7.0% depending on assumptions.  This is taxable, of course.  Their forecasts have an additional caveat that low wholesale electricity prices right now mean that the rate of return for the first year will be lower than the amounts stated.  They are expecting to complete construction and start generating power (and returns on investment) in April 2021.  And on pages 35-36 of the prospectus they note that their generation forecasts are based on local Met Office data and a neighbouring wind farm, but "there have been no direct wind measurements at the project site" which seems quite surprising to me!

For people interested in investing in wind power, it would be worthwhile comparing this offer with similar schemes available from Energy4All, Abundance, and others.