Triodos, the European sustainable bank with its UK headquarters in Bristol, has joined a Hollywood actor, a Welsh rugby legend and the National Poet of Wales in backing a community wind farm project near Swansea.
The bank has made a 15-year, £5.25m investment in the Awel y Gwrhyd wind farm, pictured, which is owned by a local community society. 
The project, with two 2.35MWh Enercon wind turbines, began production in January and is expected to generate an estimated 12,558 MWh of clean, low-carbon energy a year – enough to supply more than 2,000 homes.
It is backed by Frost/Nixon and The Damned United star Michael Sheen, who hails from Port Talbot, former Wales full back Paul Thorburn, the National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke, and Paul Allen of the Centre for Alternative Energy.
Awel Co-op director Dan McCallum said: “We are delighted that Triodos has decided to provide us with a 15-year loan. Triodos has been a key backer of the UK’s very exciting community energy sector for many years, and this is the first time that they’ve been able to invest in an energy co-op in Wales.”
The co-op has also raised a further £2.26m through a local share offer which will, in part, enable it to refinance a Welsh Government loan of £1.2m. The share offer is aiming to raise £3m in total before the end of July.
The Welsh Government also provided the project with initial bridging finance of £3.55m to help it get built close to the former mining town of Pontardawe, about 20 miles north of Swansea.
Dan added: “This has not only enabled us to undertake our share offer, which has so far raised £2.26m, but has also helped us in securing finance from Triodos. This project is a perfect example of how government support can facilitate community engagement and help lever finance into one of the most deprived areas of the UK.”
Triodos relationship manager Steve Moore said: “Having worked with this project for a number of years, it is great to see it coming to fruition. Community engagement has always been at the heart of the scheme and this has been reflected in the success of the share offer amongst local people.
“All community projects are about people and this is no exception – Dan and his team have shown rare levels of resilience and dedication to overcome many challenges and make this project happen, and they can be justly proud of their magnificent achievement.
“These are not easy projects to deliver and we have been able to utilise our experience gained from over a decade of supporting similar community-owned projects.”
Triodos Bank, which has been operating in the UK for more than 22 years, only lends to organisations that make a positive difference to society and are doing good socially, culturally or environmentally.
The bank lends more than £700m to organisations and projects ranging from charities, community schemes and social housing providers, to organic farmers, homelessness programmes and renewable energy projects.
