Ripple Energy wind farm?

Coastalwatch

charlescoker said:

It's not called an investment although it is really.  Its very simple as I see it.  You buy a share of the production and this generates electricty at a cost of 2p per Kw and is sold into the market at the wholesale price .... whatever the difference betwean 2p and the wholesale price x the amount of energy you have bought will be credited against your bills.  At current wholesale prices those that are already invested are making around 16k per Kw but who knows what the price will be over a 25yr period.  I reckon it will take me 8-10yrs to get my original stake back and then 15-17yrs will be profit. At my age 67 I dont think this makes sense although you can leave it in your will to give to the kids

67! You're still a spring chicken then, I'm 71 bought in to the first windfarm and reserved shares in the second and planning to be around to collect on both.

But, seriously it's precisely for the children and grand children that we are doing it. After all we've spent a lifetime unwittingly polluting the planet, so anything we can do to mitigate it now will at least show we had their futures foremost in our thoughts.

The investment is as much in their future as it is a financial return for ourselves.

superbob_2000

I emailed Ripple with my questions yesterday and here is their response, note this doesn't match the prediction calculator on their website:

You are correct, although you can purchase enough shares to cover up to 120% of your usage,the savings are purely determined by how much power your share of the wind farm generates and the value of that power.  

The value of the power generated by the wind farm is at the wholesale price (generally about 10p/kWh these days). The operating cost of the wind farm will be about 2p/kWh. So, for each kWh of power your share of the wind farm generates, you would get an 8p saving applied to your bill, regardless of how much or when you use electricity at home, or what tariff you are on. 

However, the electricity you use is charged at the retail price - about 20p/kWh at the moment.  This is because it includes the cost of power itself and things like grid charges, taxes and levies.  So, even if you were to generate as much power as you use, your bill won't go to zero.

The wholesale export tariff is adjusted on a yearly basis. For commercial sensitivity reasons we can't give you the exact cost per kWh of the export price, however at current rates that price will give you around 10p per kWh in savings, taking into account any operational costs.

superbob_2000

and now a follow up clarrification email:

Apologies, I should have been a little clearer there.
We anticipate for the first year that the saving is going to be around 10p per kWh, however this is due to the current situation within the energy industry.
We estimate that over the 25 year lifetime of the turbine the savings will be roughly 4-5p per kWh on average, which is where we base our figures from.
The wholesale cost we export at will be revised on a year on year basis.

charlescoker

Thanks 
From what you are saying you think the wholesale energy cost will fall back over next year or so to 6-7p KW from current levels.  I understood current wholesale price was 18k Kw ?? And this is why price cap likely to rise from 24p Kw to IRO 36Kw in April

chamelion

Silly question I'm sure but where does the credit go? Directly on the octopus bill?

superbob_2000

chamelion said:

Silly question I'm sure but where does the credit go? Directly on the octopus bill?

I assume so.
This is the part I'm nervous about.
Why involve energy suppliers at all? Can't Ripple pay shareholders directly and remove the requirement to be with certain providers which may become expensive suppliers in the future.

chamelion

superbob_2000 said:

chamelion said:

Silly question I'm sure but where does the credit go? Directly on the octopus bill?

I assume so.
This is the part I'm nervous about.
Why involve energy suppliers at all? Can't Ripple pay shareholders directly and remove the requirement to be with certain providers which may become expensive suppliers in the future.

That's the deal breaker for me. While I love octopus, would I have to stick with them 25 years to get my full roi

charlescoker

I dont think you are dependent on staying with Octopus

superbob_2000

charlescoker said:

I dont think you are dependent on staying with Octopus

I have just asked them and the reply is basically Octopus or lose your payments unless they agree deals with other providers.

This is from their email:

To take advantage of the credit being applied to your account you would need to be with one of our preferred energy suppliers. At the moment it is just Octopus and Co-Op Energy that we are working with, although we are hoping to announce one or two ore in the very near future, and we are continuously looking to engage with other suppliers to make Ripple an attractive and easy proposition for everyone. Right now, being with Octopus keeps you perfectly placed, but I hope that in time we will have other suppliers which you can go between to have a better choice!

Swan_Valley

superbob_2000 said:

and now a follow up clarrification email:

Apologies, I should have been a little clearer there.
We anticipate for the first year that the saving is going to be around 10p per kWh, however this is due to the current situation within the energy industry.

That figure for the first year is encouraging. It is more than our average cost for each kWh we import on our Go Faster tariff.