Four Winds has enabled members of the public to own a stake in their local renewable energy resource and thus benefit from the sale of green electricity, produced when the wind blows.

The Co-operative was set-up in July 2013 to develop suitable sites for wind turbines on land owned by Harworth Estates that has been used for mining in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire.

During the summer of 2014, a share offer raised £3.4m of investment which was used to build two wind turbines, one near Duckmanton near Chesterfield and one between Grimethorpe and Cudworth called Shafton Turbine.

The co-operative is based on the successful model of Baywind Energy Co-operative that began operating turbines in Cumbria in the mid-1990s. Under this model the finance for the project was raised through a share offer targeted at the areas local to the turbines but open to all, with possible additional finance through a loan. The electricity generated by the turbines is being sold on the energy market so the running expenses of the turbines are paid, and an annual payment is made to our community fund. The remaining surplus is distributed to the members of the co-operative as interest.

Energy4All supported the development of Four Winds Energy Co-op, and continue to manage the day-to-day administration and accounts. Energy4All is a not-for-profit company established to develop and support new co-operatively owned renewable energy projects. There are now more than 30 successful co-ops in the Energy4all “family”.

The finance for the development phase came from Energy Prospects who specialise in providing the funding and expertise to get potential community renewable energy projects through to post-planning approval stage.