Twemlows Solar Farm is now in community ownership

Twemlows Solar Farm Community Share Offer is now closed

The Twemlows Solar Farm community share offer closed in November 2023, having met its minimum target and we have now completed the purchase.

Our aim is to develop new community-owned renewable energy schemes in Shropshire and Telford. The public will be invited to invest in these projects through share offers. The projects will deliver a return – not only for the individuals who invest, but also for the community as a whole, through saving carbon and the creation of community benefit funds.

Investors

There are three key differences in investing in Community Benefit Society compared to other kinds of shares:

  • Shareholder members are paid yearly interest on the value of those shares
  • Shareholder members can only sell their shares back to the society
  • It’s one member one vote – it doesn’t matter how much you’ve paid in because all members get an equal say in how the society’s money is spent on local renewable energy and sustainability projects

The money raised has helped to fund the transfer into community ownership of a fully operational 10MW solar farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire, which has the capacity to power 3400 homes. Any surplus from selling solar power to the grid will be added to a community benefit fund for supporting sustainability and biodiversity projects across the county.

Community support

We support community projects by providing grants to organisations in the Shropshire and Telford area. The funding for these grants is generated by investment in green energy projects.

Previous projects include:

  • Worked with Big Solar Co-op to get funding for the Big Solar Shropshire and Telford Co-ordinator
  • Commissioned Marches Energy Agency to study the renewables that will be needed in the Marches to get to targets set by the Local Enterprise Partnership
  • Commissioned Sharenergy to undertake outline feasibility for a range of renewable installations across the area.

We’ve distributed grants from the Twemlows Community Benefit fund to recipients including:

  • Park Lane Community Centre to provide hands on experience of conservation resources and low energy lighting
  • Whitchurch allotment and community Orchard with replacement trees lost during 2021 and additional beehive equipment
  • Contribution to costs of PV panels for the Festival Drayton Centre in Market Drayton
  • Blackberry fair pedal roundabout helping to promote sustainable practices
  • We are also working on the Bishop’s Castle Heat & Wind project using grants from the Next Generation project set up by Power to Change and the Community Energy Fund managed by the Midlands net Zero Hub.

Green energy

Our aim is to develop new community owned renewable energy schemes in Shropshire and Telford. The public will be invited to invest in these projects through share offers. The projects will deliver a return – not only for the individuals who invest, but also for the community as a whole through saving carbon and the creation of community benefit funds.