Citizen wind farm A2 Lage Rooijen reaches financial milestone
Citizen wind farm A2 Lage Rooijen has reached ‘financial close’. This is a major milestone for the project because it means we can start construction and procurement of materials. At the financial close, the bank provides the money for the realization of the project. Part of the total investment was contributed as equity by the shareholders GreenTrust Projects and Coöperatie Bommelerwaar.
GreenTrust Projects and Coöperatie Bommelerwaar are both 50% owners. From May until mid-June, the cooperative raised money from the surrounding area to raise their equity.
GreenTrust’s communications team led the campaign to raise the money for the cooperative in cooperation with Coöperatie Bommelerwaar. GreenTrust is also dealing with the construction of the Citizen Wind Farm, the legal aspect, calculating the business case and the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Now the Wind Farm is in the construction phase led by GreenTrusters Stan Reinders and Joost Cornelli.
Energy for 10,000 households
Citizen Wind Farm A2 Lage Rooijen will meet the energy needs of more than 10,000 households. Construction preparations will start from mid-August, with the wind farm expected to be operational by the end of 2025. Directly adjacent residents will be kept informed of progress through the focus group and door-to-door letters.
Together for the wind: a successful campaign
To finance the construction of the wind farm, Coöperatie Bommelerwaar needed a total of 3.5 million euros. Thanks to the enthusiastic participation of more than 200 residents and entrepreneurs from the region, an amount of over 1.1 million euros was raised. The remaining amount will be supplemented by Deltawind, a Dutch energy cooperative based on Goeree-Overflakkee. This offers Coöperatie Bommelerwaar the opportunity to acquire sufficient additional capital so that it can repay this sister cooperative shareholder at a later date, probably after the wind farm is commissioned. For current bondholders, interest rates and investment terms remain the same.
Wind Fund
Apart from that there was an opportunity to invest, when the Wind Farm is operational, €0.75 per megawatt hour (MWh) generated will go to the Maasdriel Environment Fund, which supports local projects.