Westmill Solar Co-operative is the

industrial and provident society An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules. The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...

that owns the Westmill Solar Park in Oxfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, believed to be the largest community-owned photovoltaic power station in the world.

Project

The project was originally conceived by Adam Twine, the pioneer behind the neighbouring

Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative Ltd is a community-owned Industrial and Provident Society that owns 100% of the Westmill Wind Farm which is an onshore wind farm near the village of Watchfield in the Vale of White Horse, England. It has five 1. ...

, built in 2011 and registered for the UK feed-in tariffs. It has a capacity of 5 MW_P. Westmill Solar Co-operative acquired the solar park in October 2012, under an option agreement with the original developers. It raised the necessary finance through public and private share offers and a senior debt bond with a pension fund.

Westmill Solar Park

Westmill solar park is in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

located on a site of 30

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

near to Watchfield, on the

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

/Oxfordshire border, just off the A420. The site adjoins that of the

. The

solar power plant A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

has over 21,000 solar panels and has been operational since July 2011. When acquired by the Co-operative, it was the largest community-owned photovoltaic power station in the world.

Co-operative membership and equity

The Co-operative invited members through a public share offer, launched in June 2012. Despite the tight timetable caused by the expiry date on the option, the issue was 50% over-subscribed, when it closed at the end of July. This raised £4m from c. 1,650 members. An additional c. £2m was raised by a private placement of B-Shares, mainly from members who had subscribed to the original issue.

Other financing

The Co-operative raised the balance of funding required in the form of a 23½-year senior debt bond. This was arranged with the Lancashire County Council Pension Fund, in what was believed to be the first major funding by a local authority in community-owned energy infrastructure.

References

External links