MY £75 OCTOPUS ENERGY REFERRAL CODE LINK

Who Are Ripple Energy?

Ripple Energy are the managing agent for the co-operative societies which own the wind farms and solar parks. Ripple source locations, get the wind turbines built and solar parks up-and-running, but are not owners. The co-operatives pay Ripple an arrangement fee for the construction and an ongoing management fee for providing day-to-day services like member administration and managing the contractual relationships with the supply partners and the co-op's operations and maintenance providers. They are appointed for an initial term of 5 years.

How Does The Co-op Work?

Buyers receive ordinary shares in the co-operative society. The co-op owns the wind farm or solar park. Shares can be withdrawn after two years but are non-transferable, meaning you cannot sell or transfer your shares publicly, but they can be re-issued to existing members who wish to increase their ownership. Shares are allocated based on how much power a member has purchased, but each member gets one vote regardless of how many shares they own. Businesses can also own part of each project.   

How Do I Buy A Share In A Wind Farm Or Solar Park Co-Op?

You can own from as little as £25, up to enough to supply 120% of your annual electricity consumption. You purchase a set amount of Watts in the wind farm or solar park and the actual kWh output from that power is allocated to you. e.g. 900 Watts from a wind farm is estimated to generate around the typical household's yearly electricity usage of 2,900 kWh. You can pay for your shares in 12 monthly instalments should you wish.        

How Are The Savings Calculated?

Ripple agree a wholesale electricity price in advance with Octopus for the power produced by the turbines or solar panels. The difference between this wholesale price and the operating costs of the project are applied to your electricity bill based on the kWh of electricity output your ownership share generates. This effectively enables owners to fix the wholesale element of their electricity expenditure at cost, irrespective of retail electricity prices. Savings will comprise of a repayment of share capital with the remainder representing the ‘return’ on your investment. The intention is to repay or ‘withdraw’ 5% of your shares each year. Total share capital should then be repaid after 20 years of the project's operational life.   

How Much Will The Savings Be?

Ripple estimate you can save up to 25% on your electricity bills if you own enough of the farm to supply 100% of your consumption. You won't get free electricity because you still have to pay grid charges, levies and taxes as well as for the electricity itself, just like any other customer. You'll continue to pay for your electricity use as per your supplier tariff but will also receive a bill credit in respect of the savings from your share of the output. When wholesale electricity prices are high, your savings will be higher and vice-versa. e.g. because of current high wholesale electricity prices, the owners in Ripple's first project, Graig Fatha, received 27p per kWh owned in the second year of generation. That's £783 for the typical household using 2,900 kWh per year! The payback period (based on prices prior to the energy crisis) is estimated at 15 years.                 

Do I Have To Be An Octopus Energy Customer?

If you're already on an Octopus Energy supported tariff (Octopus, Co-op Energy, M&S Energy, London Power or Sainsbury’s Energy) you can get savings applied to your bill. Shell Energy and Bulb Energy have now been migrated to Octopus. Ripple also partner with E.ON Next and Unify Energy (for businesses). Ripple expect British Gas, Ecotricity, EDF Energy and Good Energy to become supply partners shortly. If you are with one of these suppliers you can choose to stay with them until they are fully onboard, rather than switch to another supplier.

If you're already with Octopus and the bill is in your name, you don't need to switch and can remain on your existing tariff. If you'd like to switch to Octopus Energy, remember to use my referral link below in order to gain a total of £75 referral cashback.        

Where Can I Find Out More About Ripple?

For further information visit the Ripple Energy website.