David urges people to invest in wind power

David is sales and marketing manager for Glens of Antrim Potatoes and has been involved with co-operatives for over 10 years. In 2009, he was elected to the Regional Board for The Co-operative Group in Scotland and Northern Ireland and has also been vice chair of The Co-operative in Northern Ireland. David has joined Drumlin Wind Energy Co-op as a Director to help take the project from planning stage to construction and operation.

Drumlin has launched a public share offer to raise up to £3.4million to build five 250KW single wind turbines across five sites in Northern Ireland including Pomeroy, Kells, Larne and Ballyclare. Individuals, businesses and organisations may invest between £250 and £20,000 in the shares, which are eligible for Enterprise Investment Tax Relief at 30 per cent, and will receive an attractive return on their investment averaging approximately 7 per cent - 10 per cent per annum over a 20 year period - full details are available in the share offer document.

The Share offer period ends on September 21, 2012 and is open to everyone from those interested in environmental issues, to those looking for an ethical investment, to grandparents and parents considering a long-term investment on behalf of their children and grandchildren.

The project has been created by local company NRG Solutions in partnership with Cumbria based Energy4All. Whilst this is the first project of its kind in Northern Ireland, the co-operative model has enjoyed considerable success in the UK over the past number of years, where Energy4All has been involved in setting up seven community wind co-operatives owned by around 7,000 investors and together generating a total of 16MW of renewable energy.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr Morrow said: “I am delighted to be appointed as a Director of Drumlin Wind Energy Co-operative. This is a truly innovative model by which local people can take ownership of and benefit both financially and environmentally from renewable energy. Profits from the sale of green electricity will be distributed to members through an annual dividend and importantly a community fund has been set up to support local initiatives in the areas housing the turbines, for example environment conservation projects. This is an ethical investment which will deliver an attractive return on investment and I would encourage anyone interested to visit www.drumlin.coop or call 0845 373 3612 for more information.”