Part ownership of a Ripple Wind Turbine, fancy it?

[Joeboy]

I have read a few posts here and on moneysavingexpert but am still confused.

If I signed up to the 2023 wind farm does anyone have any numbers for the expected savings (or even better what the expected electric price would be that I would pay?)

Sorry if that seems silly but I’m still struggling to work out real numbers!

No one can really say for sure. Certainly for WT1 the return per kWh generated in your ownership was going to be worth around 6.5p. This has since risen to around 8p. These are best guesstimates and nothing to base a decision on. In addition WT2 & WT3 are different beasts. WT1 is a single 2.5MWh turbine whereas WT2 is I think a cluster of 3?

My awareness is that I've invested around 4k in WT1 for an expected output of around 6.95MWh pa. This would be 6950x8p =£556. Remember we are firmly in the land of guesses. If it comes through at 8p per kWh generated in my name then 556/4000x100 is a 13.9% return. Will the per unit price rise as time passes. I think so Do I have a clue, not really.
Please bear in mind that I am just a random idiot on the Internet and get it wrong quite a lot. In all honesty, I'm doing it for the green and I don't mean the colour of dollars.

Welcome to the forum energyuser.

[nowty]

I have read a few posts here and on moneysavingexpert but am still confused.

If I signed up to the 2023 wind farm does anyone have any numbers for the expected savings (or even better what the expected electric price would be that I would pay?)

Sorry if that seems silly but I’m still struggling to work out real numbers!

Sorry if I am repeating Joeboy, but I had written all this out, just before Joyboy posted.

From what I understand WT2 (the 2023 one as you call it) will be better value for money compared with WT1 as its a multi turbine installation so benefits from an economy of scale and is in a windier location.

However the expected electricity price and therefore the rebate will be whatever it is. Example, when WT1 was launched early in the Covid pandemic the rebate was only going to be about 3p per generated kWh. Then a little later that estimate improved to about 4.5p per kWh. Then when energy prices went nuts, the first year of operation of WT1 its going to be circa 8p per kWh. Ripple could have gone for a 3 year deal with Octopus but the rebate would have been lower so they went for a 1 year deal to maximise early returns. What it will be after that year is up is anyone's guess.

However look at it this way and its the way Ripple sell it. The operating cost of the WT1 or WT2 is primarily fixed over its operating life so if the retail leccy price goes up so does the rebate and vice versa. So its really a way of keeping your energy costs low and fixed for the next 20 to 30 years rather than making an x% return on your investment.

For WT1, I paid about £5k for 3000 watts and that will generate about 8000kWh per year. So in the first year that's a circa £640 rebate subject to the rebate actually being 8p / kWh.

[Joeboy]

Also worth pointing out that we cannot know how much you will pay for power at your home. The mechanism doesn't work like that. You are paid per kWh generated in your name to your account (Octopus for most of us). The generated funds are paid into your energy account the following month and can be offset against your bill. Best to think of yourself as a microgenerator on a co-op endeavour.
Cheers
Joyboy

[John_S]

Thank you, it is there. Not quite so optimistic as the figures we have been looking at but worth having anyway. Virtuous too!
A

Ripple use the P75 figure for the expected output. Ie 75% of the time the output will be that or more.

It works to our benefit as it produces a lower figure to compare our annual electricity usage with and thus gives more headroom to invest in WT2.

[AE-NMidlands]

My son is signed up for Ripple 2, and is currently supplied by E.on next (was transferred when his previous supplier went bust.)
Looking at their website, they claim to supply lots of green energy (but some of that is by buying credits.)
Ripple are expanding the no. of their distribution partners, so given Eon's claim I wonder whether they will be it / one of them? Their history of being one of the big bad 6 would prejudice me against them...
A

[nowty]

A Ripple Special on Fully Charged with some more footage and info on the construction.

Interestingly Sarah Merrick (CEO of Ripple) said the initial rebate was just over 8p / kWh.

[Joeboy]

A Ripple Special on Fully Charged with some more footage and info on the construction.

Interestingly Sarah Merrick (CEO of Ripple) said the initial rebate was just over 8p / kWh.

Nice one Nowty, Top find! It is some bit of kit. Felt quite emotional watching the live footage.

[Joeboy]

Latest, 9.5p per kWh! 1st Week March energise! That works out at around a 16.5% return yr1.

Happy New Year to you. 2022 promises to be a big one for all our members as we move towards the switch on of Graig Fatha and you become members of the first UK wind farm to be owned by the customers it supplies. Here are a few updates we wanted to share with you.
Even bigger bill savings: 9.5p/kWh in the first year

We're sure you are all aware that the wholesale cost of electricity has gone up substantially in recent months. We are very pleased to let you know that we have secured a price for the first year of generation that reflects that trend. We had communicated to you in September last year that your savings were projected to be around 8p for every kWh generated by your share of the wind farm. We can now confirm you will now receive about 9.5p saving on your bill per kW/h. This means that a member whose share of the wind farm generates 2,900kWh will get a saving of about £275 on their bill in the first year. That is more than triple the expected first year saving when we first launched the coop share offer!
Graig Fatha switch on date: first week of March

Over the Christmas period the grid company (WPD) and the council were able to agree the last details of the property agreement needed for the turbine's connection to the grid. WPD have allocated resources and lined up their contractors to complete the necessary works. This includes the following:

Digging trenches, laying cables and erecting a pole-mounted transformer
Forming inspection pits
Installing the substation enclosure on site
Installing switchgear and panels on site and at the grid connection point
Joining cables and energising the connection

It is anticipated this will all be completed by the end of the first week of March. We had hoped to be able to achieve it sooner but site conditions meant the final design of earthing and cable arrangements took longer to complete than usual, and legal agreements have been hampered by the latest Covid outbreak. Everyone involved is aware of the importance of this ground breaking project and the benefits it will bring to our members and to local homes in fuel poverty through the Community Benefit Fund. We will bring you more news as soon as we have it.
We will bring you a further update soon and we will continue to work with all the necessary parties to secure a switch on date for your turbine as quickly as possible. We know you are keen for the turbine to start generating and we will work hard on your behalf to achieve this.

All the best,

Team Ripple

[Moxi]

Post removed

[AE-NMidlands]

I mustn't get over-excited and boost my consumption though ...

Is it the case that the transmission costs and the "Green Levy" are a proportion of the cost of my consumption, rather than being worked out per kWhr?

If so, the higher price means that a) the grid takes a bigger lump of money for doing the same work, and b) the Gov't takes even more off me to pay for FITs for other people - when our turbine is producing our electricity for us - with no subsidy, I think?