AkuoCoop launches France’s largest participatory investment campaign for a wind farm, raising 1.7 million euros.
The GÂTINAIS 2 project in Seine-et-Marne will have a total installed capacity of 21 MW for 5 wind turbines.
AkuoCoop raises €1.7 million for GÂTINAIS 2
AkuoCoop’s crowdfunding campaign brings to a close a process of co-construction of the project with the local residents of Beaumont-du-Gâtinais and Gironville.
Akuo decided to collectively determine the location and configuration of the park via a public survey phase and workshops.
This consultation of local residents worked, as the project was not challenged in court.
The largest wind farm in the Paris region
GÂTINAIS 2 will supply around 11,300 homes, doubling the capacity of the GÂTINAIS 1 wind farm to 22,000 homes.
French independent renewable energy leader Akuo will thus avoid the emission of 2,600 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The total installed capacity of 45 MW of the two wind farms will be distributed by Plüm Energie, a renewable energy supplier.
The total cost of the GÂTINAIS 1 expansion plan is €33.1 million.
A campaign limited to local residents
Firstly, participation in the fund-raising campaign is restricted to the local population, but covers 11 départements.
Individuals living there (even secondarily), companies owned by previous owners, local authorities and SEMs are all eligible.
What’s more, the campaign is open from as little as one euro, and is eligible for investment via PEA and PEA-PME.
The second limitation is that participatory financing will only cover 5% of the total project cost. BPI France and Caisse d’Epargne CEPAC, as well as theAkuo Carbon Fund, provide the bank financing.
Akuo and its equity financing platform AkuoCoop are providing the project’s equity.
Île-de-France: a net importer of energy
AkuoCoop is in line with the two main energy objectives of the Ile-de-France region: to reduce the regional energy deficit (net importer of 66.4 TWh).
And to increase the share of renewable energies in regional energy consumption (currently at 1.7%).
Taking into account the participation of local residents, the GÂTINAIS 2 project is perfectly in tune with the times.
