I thought I would add some detail to Joeboy's post because it is a little complicated. I also make nothing from this in terms of others joining the scheme.
Yes, my secret list from the old forum had 7 members who had admitted being part of it, well actually only 5 others as Joeboy and I are included in the 7. I wont mention the forum by name but it starts with how you get from A to B, and ends with the name of on old 1982 Sci Fi film starring Jeff Bridges who got stuck in a video game.
I have paid just over £5k to buy exactly a 3kW share of the 2.5MW turbine so I will own 1/833 of it. Its forecasted to generate me 8017 kWh's a year.
Some months ago it was unclear if the actual turbine would happen. It had planning permission but circa £4m was required to build it. Ripple was having difficulty persuading enough energy customers to buy in, but now it’s happening as the Welsh Government has intervened and is taking an equity stake and the Welsh Development Bank is providing a variable sized loan to fund the rest if required. If more people are persuaded to join, then the loan might not even be required. The turbine is a 2.5MW Vensys has been ordered for November delivery to the UK and operational circa December 2021. Estimated life 20 to 30 years.
https://www.vensys.de/en/wind-turbines/ ... ensys-121/
https://developmentbank.wales/news-and- ... -following
Basically you can invest almost anything from a mere £25 to the amount that it would cost to generate up to 120% of your normal import of leccy. I think this is for tax reasons, because there is unlikely to be any tax to pay on the returns because you are paid via a monthly rebate on your energy bill directly proportional to the actual performance of the wind turbine. But from what I gather no evidence seems to be requested if you buy up to 6999kWh’s worth which is about £4,536.
Ripple is just a facilitator so if Ripple Energy goes bust it wont really matter. The turbine is being built by CleanEarthEnergy and will be owned by a Co-operative company which everyone who joins will be a shareholder in. And although you will own a pro rata amount of the wind turbine its a single vote for each person so no matter how little you buy you still have the same say of what happens.
https://cleanearthenergy.com/tenacity-p ... plication/
So the way it works is,
Octopus Energy buys the leccy for the cost price of the generation through a Power Purchase Agreement. The difference between the wholesale price and the cost price is given back to you as a rebate on your energy bill a month in arrears. Currently the rebate is estimated at 4.5p per kWh. And as I am only paying an average of 5.6p per kWh on my entire import which is basically charging my battery bank on the Octopus GO tariff in winter, my bill will be very very low.
However, its not for everyone, there are some Pros and Cons with this.
PROS
Nothing has been done anywhere in the world like this, yes there are some community windfarms, but you just get paid a dividend. In this, you own the windfarm and you are supplied via your Energy Supplier who buys the leccy direct from the Co-op company. So be part of something new and innovative.
You can be on any tariff with Octopus, so even Agile or Go is OK.
You don’t have to match your usage with the wind turbine so for me its fantastic, as I import practically nothing in the Summer and tons in winter for my heatpump, home battery and EV charging.
A solar panel on your roof will generate the same as a solar panel at a solar farm and mostly in Summer. A small wind turbine on a domestic house will generate practically nothing, but a small share of a big one in a windy place will generate tons and mostly in the Winter. So its a nice balance.
Probably no tax to pay on the bill rebates. Its classed as interest but we all (depending on out tax rates) have an allowance in addition to our personal income tax allowances. Also there is an accounting quirk where for the first 20 years part of the rebate is classed as a repayment of your capital, therefore that part is not taxable. And since domestic solar FIT income is tax free, its possible the taxman will allow this as being tax free too.
If by some quirk you end up in big credit, say you go traveling and not use any leccy, then you can request a transfer out to your bank account in the same way if you overpay your leccy or gas supplier.
The estimate of generation has been based on a pessimistic basis, so it may generate more than forecasted.
If you move house, it moves with you and if you die, you can pre nominate someone else to own it. I think they are allowing a similar transfer if you end up in a long term care home.
If leccy prices rise in the future, the returns will be higher.
The life of the turbine might be longer than forecasted, so again the total return may be higher.
You can buy or sell some or all of your watts for the residual value to other members of the scheme.
CONS
Its not built yet, so there could be a delay, or there could be a construction disaster.
The construction may cost more that forecasted, so more cash may be requested or you may lose some of your share.
Ripple may go bust which may make the future power purchase agreements more complicated.
The forecasted generation may be too optimistic and generates less, so less rebate.
The future cost of leccy may fall, therefore the returns would be less.
The turbine could have a major breakdown and be out of service for some time.
The life of the turbine could be less than forecasted.
Your stuck with Octopus Energy for at least 1 year after it goes operational and maybe forever if no other Energy company wants to participate in the scheme.
You can get a similar and less risky tax free return in you invest in an existing windfarm investment company and keep the investment in an ISA.
The buying and selling of some or all of your share may not be as simple as it sounds, for example, if it turns out to be a good investment, there will be more buyers than sellers and vice versa.
I do believe in eggs across many baskets to spread the risk.