Eco Investor October 2014

Unlisted Companies

Top Five Renewable Energy Crowdfunding Platforms

Solarplaza and the upcoming Renewable Energy Crowd Funding Conference in London have published a list of the top five renewable energy crowdfunding platforms in the world.

Solarplaza's Aishani Mishra says "The emerging finance method of "crowd funding" has provided a new way to leave out third parties, provide energy and monetary benefits to investors and democratize energy in the true sense." The five platforms identified are the leaders in renewable energy crowd funding based on the money they have raised so far.

Number one is Windcentrale, a Netherlands based platform launched in 2010 that has raised 14.3 million. The platform is used to raise capital to acquire windmills; each investor becomes an owner and can use the energy generated to power their household. Its most successful project raised 1.3 million in 13 hours. Solarplaza says that on average every investor receives about 500 kWh per year, enough to take care of their energy bills for the next 12-15 years. The financial return has been 7 per cent if energy prices continue to increase at 3 per cent annually. See www.windcentrale.nl

The second best platform is UK based Abundance Generation, which was launched in 2009 and has raised about 8 million. Investors can put their money into different types of alternative energy projects in the UK and receive a percentage of the revenue or profit from the sale of the electricity produced. The average return has been 7.25 per cent. Solarplaza says Abundance Generation's actually began operations in 2012 after a long process to become the first crowd funding platform authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority. See www.abundancegeneration.com

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The third best platform is US based Mosaic, which launched in 2013 and has raised 6.3 million. Solarplaza says Mosaic functions like a virtual renewable energy bank, soliciting investments for solar projects and giving out loans that are to be paid back, typically over 10 years. Investors can put in from US$25 and returns have averaged 5 per cent. Investors can receive a percentage of the revenue or profit from the sale of the project's electricity. The platform is said to have become a major player in the solar PV market where investors have become increasingly interested in crowd financing models. See www.joinmosaic.com

Number four is UK based Trillion Fund. Launched in 2013, it has raised 1.4 million and returned an average 7.98 per cent. Projects are in wind, solar, hydro and biomass. The peer to peer lending platform has a user base of 7,000. Investors receive a percentage of revenue or profit generated from sale of the electricity produced by their project. As well as peer to peer lending, users can back projects by bonds, debentures and shares in local cooperatives and funds. The platform recently merged with Buzzbnk, a platform for social entrepreneurs. See www.trillionfund.com

Number five platform is UK based GenCommunity, which launched in 2013 and has raised 1.25 million. It has had two projects so far but has raised around 1 million pounds from these. It aims to invest in socially beneficial projects that build community knowledge, alleviate fuel poverty, support the sustainability of UK energy, and it allows investments in UK solar PV projects. Investors earn money on energy sold from the projects they finance and communities with limited resources benefit from the electricity. The platform received the British Renewable Energy Award in 2013. See www.gen-community.co.uk

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