Awel Co-op
Community engagement sits at the heart of Awel, a Welsh renewable energy project. Construction of their two turbines was completed in early 2017 - almost 20 years after the idea for a community wind project was first floated in a local council meeting. A group of volunteers decided to take the project forward, and undertook an independent referendum to gather opinion, which demonstrated wide-spread support from local people for the initiative. Their work led to the project being selected as a case study for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and included in governmental planning guidance on wind energy. An incredibly successful share offer (over £2m has been raised as of early July 2017) was launched to help fund the project, and celebrity backers include Hollywood star Michael Sheen and Welsh poet Gillian Clark. The success of this share offer, the strong support from the local community and the resilience and dedication of the project team enabled Awel to secure a loan from Triodos. The turbines are now forecast to generate 12,404 MWh of clean energy each year- enough to power over 2,500 homes.
