About us
About us
Grannell Community Energy, which was formed in 2016, is a community benefit society based near Lampeter, West Wales. We run a refurbished Enercon E48 community-owned wind turbine. Our turbine is the largest community-owned wind turbine in Ceredigion.
Our mission
Our mission is to help mid-Wales develop a clean energy future, mitigate climate change by installing renewable energy generation, and to do this in a fair and democratic way by spreading the ownership and benefits across the community rather than concentrated in the hands of the few.
Grannell Community Energy exists to develop, encourage and promote renewable energy projects and other pathways towards the development of a robust, sustainable, local economy.
Grannell Community Energy is a Community Benefit Society, meaning that anyone (aged 16+) can become a member by purchasing shares when a live share offer is available, and hence become a part-owner of a wind turbine.
Our structure
As a Community Benefit Society, our members are also our shareholders. Shares cost £1 each, and members earn interest on their investments (not dividends). Regardless of the number of shares held, each member has one vote, ensuring democratic participation.
Rules and Governance
GCE is managed and governed by a group of volunteer directors in accordance with a set of rules which are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. Our rules are available to download here.
Community Benefit Society
The objective of Grannell Community Energy is to generate and sell renewable energy and use its surplus for community benefit.
Grannell Community Energy is run as a Community Benefit Society. This is a form of Registered Society which is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.
A Registered Society has members, and a board which is elected each year at an AGM by the members.
Our members will be everyone that buys shares in our society.
The society is run according to a set of rules, which have been approved and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. These rules cover issues such as who can be a member, how board meetings and general meetings are run, what quorums are necessary, how many directors should be on the board and so on.
Our board
At present we have five directors on our board. At each AGM 2 Directors will stand down and will need to be re-elected by the members, any of whom is invited to stand as a new Director.
The current board is as follows:
Guy Hopwood (Chair)
Guy Hopwood is a renewable energy consultant who has lived in Ceredigion since 1972. Guy has been involved in the development of a range of renewable energy schemes since 2010 including a 500kW wind turbine in Ceredigion and another in Carmarthenshire and is also an investor in several community wind & solar PV projects in Wales. Guy currently works for YnNi Teg, a community renewable developer that has its own 900kW wind turbine in Carmarthen as well as a recently completed 576kW solar PV system. He is responsible for developing new projects for YnNi Teg as well as providing support to other Community Energy organisations throughout Wales. YnNi Teg are currently working on developing a second 900kW wind turbine in Ceredigion that should be operational towards the end of 2025. Guy is also a trustee of the Shared Earth Trust based at Denmark Farm near Lampeter.
Lindsay Thomas (Treasurer)
Lindsay Thomas moved to Wales over 40 years ago, and her four daughters have been born and raised here, attending the local schools and going on to universities.
Lindsay lives near Cribyn with her husband Jason in a traditional Welsh longhouse, on 6 acres of land, which is an ongoing project and passion they both share. They have renovated the cottage, barns and outbuildings, planted trees and installed solar PV and solar thermal panels. Lindsay also enjoys keeping bees, quilt making and exploring the lesser known parts of the county through rural walks with a local group.
Previously running a small publishing business and press in Ceredigion, she is now semi-retired and founding director of GCE. She is determined to make this work, for the environment, the community and help with funding local environmental initiatives. She wants to see more projects like this come to fruition, locally produced energy for local communities, safeguarding precious resources for future generations, including her grandchildren. Having previously lived simply and off grid for many years, she now enjoys restoring and improving old buildings to achieve a balance between the beauty of the traditional with the energy efficiency essential for our planet.
Jane O’Brien
Jane is a Development Manager for YnNi Teg (since Oct ’21), identifying opportunities and delivering community energy projects currently under development. She has an MSc (Eng) in Energy Management & Conservation, and has worked in the sustainability sector for over 25 years. She has experience of delivering a range of projects, including renewable initiatives and provision of services to LA’s and government services, commercial and community sectors. Her skills include turning ideas into realistic projects, for over 10 years worked for RENEW Wales assisting over 35 projects ranging from wind turbine development, to food growing, health and well being. Also a voluntary Director for Community Energy Pembrokeshire, led a small team to successfully deliver a 800kW wind turbine in South Pembrokeshire. She sees a holistic approach to energy schemes as the way forward, encompassing grid management, storage, techology, transport developments (and intrinsic to all, energy efficiency). Jane and her husband Martin own a small eco tourism business, North Lodge Eco Holidays, offering traditional camping and off grid quirky units including a converted horse lorry. This is set in beautiful Pembrokeshire, close to Cardigan and the Teifi valley area.
Brian Mark
Brian lives off grid in Llandudoch, near Aberteifi and is a retired commercial building services engineer having been a founding partner of Fulcrum Consulting, at one point a 200+ engineer, specialist sustainable engineering consultancy.
Brian is an expert on low energy building and city design including integrated, local renewable energy generation and as such was asked to serve on the Renewables Advisory Board , advising central government on the best method to achieve all national, Kyoto and EU based renewable energy targets.Brian is a deep believer in the advantages of community ownership of assets including energy generation and has local experience of the successful delivery of such community ownership schemes as a director of 4CG for several years (the highly successful community development organisation based in Aberteifi).
Martin Roger
Martin Roger graduated from university in the mid-70’s with a degree in physics and has worked as a design engineer in companies specialising in communications electronics systems ever since. He is interested in community development and founded a charity to support the education of children in Central America emphasising cultural and artistic traditions. The charity now has its own centre which uses Montessori methodology in its teaching. Martin’s interests also extend to the energy sector where he is keen to support initiatives that empower communities at a local level. He has been active in this area for several years both as an investor and also as a director of a community energy society that runs three wind turbines on the Isle of Lewis. Martin is also focusing on his own lifestyle given the climate change crisis through which we are living and is trying to reduce his ecological footprint by running an electric car, by reducing grid dependence through installing PV and solar thermal systems and by insulating his home. Martin lives in Buckinghamshire and enjoys walking in the Chiltern Hills in his free time.
Julia Lim
Julia moved to just outside Lampeter in 2013 and lives on a 2.5 acre smallholding with her husband, where they work to reduce their footprint on the land by using greywater as much as possible, and harvesting rainwater for the garden. They grow food for themsleevs and the community without pesticides, encouraging wildlife and following permaculture principles. They insulated their home, a scandinavian kit house, soon after moving and heat it with one woodburner, for which they have planted a willow biomass. She is an enthusiastic Welsh learner and enjoys the many opportunities in the area to practice and improve her Welsh.
Julia bought shares in the wind turbine, and is a supporter of locally owned and generated renewable energy as one of the most democratic ways of addressing the challenges of climate change.
Former founding directors
Grannell Community Energy would not have been possible without the faith, expertise and commitment of 2 former directors. The time and dedication they gave to this project has been invaluable.
Leila Kierch
Leila is a long-term supporter of renewable energy generation and supporting rural communities. She moved to Wales over 20 years ago to study and raised her family here as well as attempting to learn the language and be a useful member of the community.
In her professional career she has worked in the wind energy sector, in community energy, and managed a local charity. She brought a wealth of experience to the board and played a large part in ensuring the project has been a success.
Elly Foster
Originally from The Netherlands, Elly has lived in the UK for over 40 years, many of which have been spent in West Wales. She has learned Welsh and hopes to be fluent one day.
Elly is passionate about renewable energy. She has advocated community cohesion through many campaigns, for instance on local bus services. She is a successful private tutor, and her hopes continue to be that the young people of this area will inherit a vibrant, resilient community.
Thanks also to …
A successful community project like this relies not only on the support, goodwill and energy of its community, society members, and volunteers but also a host of professional advisers and contractors. We would like to thank the following whose help during the fundraise and construction was invaluable – we could not have done it without you. In particular thanks go to:
Our Partners
Development Bank of Wales
Loans have been obtained from the Development Bank of Wales that allow us to proceed before reaching the full construction cost from the share offer.
Ynni Lleol
The GCE scheme has received support, loan financing and grant funding from the Welsh Government through its Local Energy service. The Welsh Government’s Local Energy service provides financial and technical support to help social enterprises and SMEs across Wales to develop their own renewable energy schemes. Our special thanks for help above and beyond the call of duty go to Andy Rowland.
Sharenergy Co-operative
Sharenergy helps community groups across the UK to set up and own their own renewable energy generators. Sharenergy has supported over 40 successful community share offers and provides administrative services to over 30 community energy groups.
We are also grateful to the following for their support in the numerous steps along the way to installation:
- Seren Energy – Wind turbine site procurers. With special thanks to Steve Hack.
- Our Footprints – Owners Engineer and Project Manager.
- naet-Co Ltd – Tendering support and risk advice to board.
- Second Wind – Support with overseas turbine inspection, purchase, and logistics, with special thanks going to Paul Burrell.
- F&B Windpower – The turbine originated from the Netherlands, and with the expertise of these engineers was dismantled, refurbished, stored, delivered and installed on site at Ffrwd Farm. They continued to be our Operational and Management specialists until 2022.
- Special thanks go to Eddie Bosman, our “turbine whisperer”, who camped up on site after the initial construction to check the turbine was operating properly. Thank you for all your advice.
- MFG Solicitors – Legal advice and negotiations.
Ongoing support
- RFM – Our Operational and Maintenance engineers since 2022, who do an incredible job keeping our blades continually turning. With special thanks to Jake Mason and his team.
- The Evans Family – without whom we would not have a project at all, but most of all for their support, patience, and hard-work in helping us reach this point.
- Many local councillors and community groups – too numerous to mention but who have shown in their own way that they can see the benefit that this project will bring to this corner of Ceredigion.