High Winds Community Energy Society: Our background and history
Background
Standing in a windswept field on Harlock Hill in south Cumbria in the mid 1990s, you would have been forgiven for not realising you were witnessing the start of a revolution in community energy in the UK. A Swedish company had come to Britain to introduce the Swedish model of communities owning their own power generation. Finding a suitable site on Harlock Hill owned by a sympathetic farmer, they got permission to erect five wind turbines and invited local people to form a co-operative and buy a stake in the project. That was the start of the Baywind Energy Cooperative. The share offer was noted by the press and Baywind was able to buy two of the five turbines with 1275 members, although many of the original members were unsure at the time if they would see their money again! Production by the community owned turbines began in January 1997.
Baywind takes control
That might have been the end of the matter, with Baywind being a relatively inactive minority partner with the Swedish Company. However, after various disappointments, the Swedish Company abandoned its plans to establish itself in the UK, potentially leaving Baywind to fend for itself. This is when things really started to happen. Firstly, the board of Baywind, supported democratically by the members, decided to try to buy the whole site. The Co-operative Bank was prepared to back this radical plan, so (eventually) the deal was done; Baywind became the owner and operator of a 5 turbine wind farm and had to learn quickly how to manage it effectively and profitably. It is Baywind’s proud record that in each year since then, despite supporting new ventures, and contributing to local educational and energy conservation projects, Baywind has paid a return to the members annually ranging from 3% to 9%.
The creation of Energy4All
The Baywind members were keen on developing the UK community energy sector. This enthusiasm for new ventures was illustrated perfectly in 2002 when Baywind decided that as no new community energy co-ops were being created in the UK, it was time to take the initiative.
The members of Baywind voted to support the creation of Energy4All, a new business designed solely to help other communities to develop their own renewable energy schemes and owned by the cooperatives that it supports. In taking this decision, Baywind members were well aware that this would reduce their own annual returns, as Energy4All would need financial support in its early years. However, the faith they showed in making this decision has been rewarded, as Energy4All has developed into by far the most successful creator of community energy schemes in the UK.
Time for change: Creation of High Winds
In 1996 the Baywind turbines were near state-of-the-art 500kW machines with a total capacity of 2.5MW, capable of supplying the needs of about 1100 homes. These turbines served the community very well indeed, but they began to show their age, with costly breakdowns becoming more common despite the sort of careful maintenance and management that only a dedicated local team can provide. Wind turbine technology had also moved on substantially: looking out over Morecambe Bay from the Harlock Hill site today, you may catch sight of hundreds of huge off-shore turbines, something that was inconceivable when Baywind was created. Even on-shore the trend is for larger, much more efficient machines.
Around 2015 as they came to the end of their lives, Baywind needed to consider repowering their existing turbines on Harlock Hill. At this point High Winds Community Energy was set up as a Community Benefit Society, a separate organisation to Baywind, to carry out re-powering. A share offer was launched by High Winds in January 2015 and we raised £3.9 million.
Mean Moor
At a similar time, Infinergy (a commercial wind farm developer) and Baywind worked together to develop the Mean Moor wind farm site which neighbours Harlock Hill. This site consists of three 2.3 MW turbines.
Harlock Hill repowering
In 2016, two of the original five turbines on Harlock Hill were repowered by High Winds. The new turbines, like their neighbours on Mean Moor, are 2.3 MW: these produce nearly twice as much electricity from two machines as Baywind did from five smaller machines. These turbines are expected to have another 20 year lifespan.
In 2017, High Winds, Baywind and Energy Prospects (a coop that specialises in helping finance community-owned renewable energy projects) collectively bought out Infinergy to bring all 3 of the turbines on Mean Moor into community ownership.
In 2020, High Winds became the sole owner of the 5 turbines across both sites: Harlock Hill and Mean Moor. They are separate entities but collectively have a capacity of 11.5 MW, and in 2023 produced 24,309 MWh.
Continuing our work
High Winds is an active Community Benefit Society and as well as repaying interest to our members, a portion of profits from both the Harlock Hill site and the Mean Moor site are distributed each year to organisations in Ulverston and the surrounding area. This is mainly through the Baywind Energy Community Trust (BWECT), which funds many local charities, schools and individuals in energy saving and educational initiatives. Baywind continue to operate as their own cooperative, and have installed solar PV panels on several sites in the local area.