Community-owned Scottish wind farm to generate green power and £3m cash for local projects

Communities in the south-west of Scotland are set to share almost £3 million of funding for important local projects, thanks to a pioneering new wind farm being built in Ayrshire.

Once complete, Kirk Hill wind farm, near Kirkoswald, will be the largest consumer-owned wind farm in the UK.

With a total generating capacity of 18.8MW, it will supply enough green electricity to power around 20,000 homes and businesses.

The eight-turbine scheme is the second community-owned project by the award-winning renewable energy ownership platform Ripple Energy, and is expected to begin producing power in the next few months.

It is forecast to bring in £94,000 each year from sales of electricity, amounting to more than £2.8m over its estimated 30-year lifespan.

How supercomputers and abandoned coal mines could be harnessed to heat your home

Funds will be available for distribution to local projects after the first anniversary of commissioning of the wind farm.

Cash will be awarded to the Dailly Community Development Trust, formed in 2022 to help drive forward aims set out in the local action plan, and North Carrick Community Benefit Company, a charity which focuses on community development and heritage projects, to help bankroll local initiatives.

Once complete, Kirk Hill wind farm, near Kirkoswald in Ayrshire, will be the largest consumer-owned wind farm in the UK – with a total generating capacity of 18.8MW, it will supply enough green electricity to power around 20,000 homes and businesses and earn around £2.8m for community projects over its 30-year lifespan. Picture: Ripple Energy

Support has already been earmarked for improvements to the children’s play area at Loaning Play and Skate Park as well as upgrades to facilities at the community centre in Dailly.

Grants will also go to local groups and community projects in Maybole and the North Carrick villages.

“Giving back to the community at all of our projects is incredibly important to us,” said Ripple Energy chief executive and founder Sarah Merrick.

“We are a people-powered business and, through the green energy revolution, not only are we able to work towards a fossil-fuel free world, we are able to empower local communities and support a brighter, more sustainable future.”

Floating offshore wind power: Why the future in Scotland is buoyant

North Carrick Community Benefit Company chair Mark Fletcher has welcomed the collaboration and said the funding would be particularly important for projects supporting young people in the area.

“We are very pleased to sign the agreement for the Kirk Hill wind farm development,” he said.

“This additional income will allow us to do even more to improve North Carrick, and we aim to use this benefit funding with a particular focus on actioning the outcomes of our recent North Carrick Strategy for Youth.”

Kirk Hill Wind Farm is communally owned by 5,600 members from all across the UK, who have all joined a co-operative managed by Ripple Energy to get low-cost renewable energy power for their homes, reducing their energy bills and carbon footprint.

A spokesperson for Dailly Community Development Trust said: “The Trust looks forward to working with Ripple Energy through the Kirk Hill Community Benefit Fund, and the contribution this will make to community projects in Dailly.”

Ripple Energy, founded in 2017, won Startup of the Year at the 2021 Wind Investment Awards and last year scooped the Judges Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards.

Wind farms Scotland: Plans for giant Orkney offshore wind farm lodged as approval sought for onshore substation

Its first wind farm venture, the Co-Pilot Wind Project, won Co-operatives UK’s Inspiring Co-op of the Year 2021 and was highly commended in the Renewable Energy Project of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards in 2022.

Ripple's Graig Fatha Wind Farm, in Wales, was crowned Renewable Energy Project of the Year at the 2023 UK Green Business Awards.

It also operates community-owned solar farms – its third project and first solar park, Derril Water in Devon, achieved the highest ever single raise in the history of a UK co-operative.