Gamlingay Community turbine

Gamlingay Community Turbine is situated just outside the village of Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. It is a privately funded enterprise which has been wholly funded from local residents and businesses. Priority was given to smaller investors to ensure that as many local people as possible could invest if they wished.

The village installed the turbine for three reasons: to reduce its carbon footprint (they estimate that the turbine will reduce the amount of fossil fuels used to produce electricity for the village by 10%); to raise money for the community by selling the turbine’s power; and to create a good investment opportunity for individuals and businesses in the area. They concentrated on sustainability throughout the project, even down to the track up to the site which was built out of concrete from an old RAF airfield.

The team behind the Community Turbine were seeking a high level of customer service, which is why they choose to sell their power to Opus Energy. Mr Brettle, a director of the project, comments: “It really came down to how it easy it was to talk to Opus Energy. We’re all people with day jobs so don’t have much spare time, and we’re certainly not experts in this area! Opus Energy helped us cut through the jargon and gave us confidence that nothing horrible will happen because we’d missed some technical detail. They made the entire process simple from start to finish.”

As the project is wholly funded by local residents and businesses, the profits will be distributed back to the local rural economy; Gamlingay Community Turbine Ltd will give 10% of the net income, after all running costs, to a community fund. This will enable them to create a long-term income stream for the local area which will be used to support environmentally friendly projects for the benefit of the whole community.

Opus Energy offers to purchase power at market-leading prices. Mr Brettle explains: “Opus Energy’s prices are competitive but also very easy to understand. We’d highly recommend them to others in our line of businesses, and in fact already have!”

Andy Dayus, Head of Renewable Operations, Opus Energy, concludes: “Each member of Opus Energy’s Renewables team is empowered to assist the customer to achieve their end goal. We have a very good understanding of the challenges clients could face so ensure that the whole process is as simple as possible. At Opus Energy we provide a tailored service to meet our customers’ needs and thereby ensure we provide the best solution”.

Website: http://www.gamlingay-community-turbine.co.uk/

Photo shows the Gamlingay Community Turbine with children from the village.

Gamlingay Community Turbine

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