Under the terms of the deal the business energy supplier will buy 100 per cent of the power generated by the 9MW wind farm, in the first PPA that GDF Suez has secured with a community-owned project.
The £15 million project secured £11 million from Santander with the remainder put forward by the Renewable Energy Investment Fund and the Big Lottery Fund, while revenue from the generation will be reinvested in the community, a statement from GDF Suez said.
“Our contract offer gave the funders the necessary assurances about their return on investment, while our commercial terms offered the most favourable deal for the developers,” said GDF Suez Energy UK head of local portfolio management Paul Roberts.
“Locally owned energy plants like this are playing an increasingly important role in fulfilling the UK’s renewable energy commitment. We’re very excited about supporting our first community renewable energy project,” Roberts added.