Introducing Ecotricity • World’s first green electricity company – now ‘green energy’ company • Mission led ‘not for dividend’ - business model • Powering almost 50,000 customers • We’ve built one in thirteen of England’s windmills - and it’s first sun park • Our turnover last year was £38m and profit before tax was £3.8m Our mission is to change the way energy is made and used in the UK
Minding the Gap • Our model – turning ‘Bills into Mills’. Organic growth. • It’s taken us to 51MW of wind and 50,000 customers • Pipeline is bigger - 30MW ready to build. 150MW in the planning system • Plus solar (50MW in planning this year) • Such rapid growth is a challenge, not the Debt, the Equity..... • We knew the day would come….
Funding the Gap
Introducing the EcoBond
EcoBond – growing green energy • Our aim was to raise £10 million to enable 20MW of new project £35 million of Capex • Give something back to our customers and find new ones • Also a chance to ‘cut out the middlemen’ – the banks • 7% return – 7.5% for customers • Innovative, pragmatic, populist and commercial
How did it go? • Massive oversubscription - £15m. And £3m too late…. • No advertising • Customers have priority: £7.2 million of the total • Now building UK’s first Sun Farm; 20MW new Green 2011 • Ecobond is now a part of our armoury We’ve created a way to ‘fund the gap’ and speed up the rate at which we can build new sources of Green Energy