Part ownership of a Ripple Wind Turbine, fancy it?

[Mr Gus]

Andy, whilst I was caught in the same situation of an unanswered question (for over a week, maybe 10 days) I persisted & they'd screwed up & sent it to themselves... seconds later they'd answered, they acknowledged their error.

Did you follow up so they looked for the original query?

[AE-NMidlands]

Another they never answered last year is that whole sale prices when it is windy are getting lower and lower as more turbines are being built. I struggled to make the numbers at the time make sense.

and the grid is already regularly overloaded...
What we need is funding for storage on a similar basis to generation. I would put money into a set of huge reinforced concrete footballs at the bottom of Loch Ness...
A

[nowty]

I did post a question to ripple that they never answered. With the likelihood of there being 10 energy providers by next summer. What happens if the ones they have deals with come then are not one of the ten left standing.

Another they never answered last year is that whole sale prices when it is windy are getting lower and lower as more turbines are being built. I struggled to make the numbers at the time make sense.

When they do any press releases with amount of savings people make they seem quite careful to not give enough figures to be able to make a meaningful financial decision. Ie how much did the people in the tweets make in the year vs invested.

A very pessimistic post I know. But if you are not being led entirely by your heart it is nice to know about potential issues ahead.

And I have reserved a place.

Very good questions.

The first thing you need to understand is,

The Coop (which we are members of) owns the turbine.
Clean Earth Energy is the contractor doing the turbine build and probably the maintenance.
Octopus Energy has the power purchase agreement with the Coop.
Ripple Energy is just a facilitator and is going to supply an APP for easy monitoring.

So if either Ripple or Octopus fold.

Ripple Folds
As the power purchase agreement is with the Coop then maybe your monitoring APP won’t work anymore but the rebates via Octopus continue. If Ripple went into administration, I would not be surprised is Octopus bought them for next to nothing.

Octopus Folds
Then the Coop or Ripple will need to find another power supplier to take on the power purchase agreement. If that happens, we all move to that new power supplier and the APP still works. Or the power purchase agreement ends up with a non electricity supplier like an industrial user. In that case we would end up with a dividend payment into our bank accounts instead of a bill rebate in the same way many other community wind turbine projects work.


So apart from a period of uncertainty and chaos, I don’t see it as all doom and gloom. At the end of the day the turbine is owned by the Coop in which we are members.

Your second question about wind energy prices getting lower and lower as more turbines are built. Yes that may happen and it’s a risk, but wind turbines are only built by private companies building them to get a commercial return. If there is no longer a commercial return, then no more wind turbines will be built unless there is a subsidy.

[Mr Gus]

..& not forgetting the end of life replacement market, by which time construction cost, speed will have got more tech-minded (it's happening now)

I cannot see the UK getting a grip on "too much supply" based on past performance & modern living expectations, then there is timed supply via big old links to europe which are a two way flow thing smoothing out things somewhat.

[Stinsy]

Another they never answered last year is that whole sale prices when it is windy are getting lower and lower as more turbines are being built. I struggled to make the numbers at the time make sense.

Ripple sent out an email a while ago crowing about rising wholesale electricity prices. However the prices were only high because there was no wind. When the wind blows wholesale electricity prices drop precipitously.

I'm not wishing to throw shade on the Ripple project but they have been a little careless with their claims on that occasion at least.

[Andy]

Did you follow up so they looked for the original query?

I'm afraid I didn't. I shall have another go via email and see what happens.

[Andy]

Your second question about wind energy prices getting lower and lower as more turbines are built. Yes that may happen and it’s a risk, but wind turbines are only built by private companies building them to get a commercial return. If there is no longer a commercial return, then no more wind turbines will be built unless there is a subsidy.

Thanks for the detailed answers Nowty. That puts my mind at rest a little.

I'm trying to decide between 11kw of new panels or ripple. The payback for panels and batteries at todays rates seems to be coming in at 8 years (which includes a new shed). That's hard to beat by Ripple I fancy.

[nowty]

Your second question about wind energy prices getting lower and lower as more turbines are built. Yes that may happen and it’s a risk, but wind turbines are only built by private companies building them to get a commercial return. If there is no longer a commercial return, then no more wind turbines will be built unless there is a subsidy.

Thanks for the detailed answers Nowty. That puts my mind at rest a little.

I'm trying to decide between 11kw of new panels or ripple. The payback for panels and batteries at todays rates seems to be coming in at 8 years (which includes a new shed). That's hard to beat by Ripple I fancy.

Personally I'd go for the panels and batteries if it had to be a choice.

The panels will be banging out power from next spring but Ripple WT2 is going to be end of next year at the earliest. Remember WT1 was supposed to be running by April 2021. So take the operational date of WT2 with a pinch of salt. Its bigger so its going to cost more and although there are over 1000 people who have bought a £25 voucher, most of those will be with WT1 and will be constrained with how much more they can buy without going over the 120% of their usage. I am going to try for 2000w but even that's less than the 3000w I bought with WT1.

[nowty]

Had a chat with Ripple today about whether I could buy more vouchers to allocate me more than 900w on WT2 as I want another 2000w.

They said no, but if you have bought a voucher they are going to allow those people an opportunity to purchase more watts over the 900w a few days before the offer is opened up to those who have not pre bought a voucher.

They also said that although the initial return to be higher in the first year, they do expect the prices to drop from the current levels in the future.

[Joeboy]

Good to see that they are also getting into offshore co-op wind farms. What a year!