We’ve raised £1.5 million of new investment!
And we’re so grateful for your support
We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that yesterday evening (9 June 2020) we met our £1.5 million target for new investment in our Community Energy Fund. A huge thank you to those of you who have invested and put your money to work tackling climate change!
This does mean we’ve had to close the offer a day before our official deadline to avoid us overcapitalising. We apologise for any disappointment for those of you who haven’t been able to invest this time.
However, we do anticipate being able to reopen the Fund soon as we have a pipeline of upcoming projects which need funding. If you want to be the first to know when we reopen, please sign up to our mailing list and we’ll be in touch.
We’re absolutely thrilled with the response to this round of the Community Energy Fund – a huge thank you to everyone who chose to invest in us and put their money to work tackling climate change.
Barbara Hammond MBE,CEO of the Low Carbon Hub
A double whammy! Supporting clean green local energy against the climate emergency, and, a brilliant rate of interest!
Ros KentLow Carbon Hub Investor
I am a great supporter of community energy and the Low Carbon Hub. For this reason, when I was elected as the Lord Mayor of Oxford in 2019, I made Low Carbon Hub one of my selected good causes. But, in a personal capacity, I am also a social impact investor and want my money to benefit people and planet. That is why I choose to invest in the Community Energy Fund.
Craig SimmonsLord Mayor of Oxford and Low Carbon Hub Investor
I invested for two reasons. Firstly, because there has never been a more important time than now to come together as a community to tackle the climate crisis. Second, because the Low Carbon Hub is exceptional – a rare combination of vision, courage, technical competence and a determination for fairness across our community as we accelerate this transition together.
Anthony SimpsonLow Carbon Hub investor
What will this money be used for?
The £1.5 million raised in this round of the Community Energy Fund will be used for two different purposes.
Continue to grow our portfolio of renewable energy projects in Oxfordshire
‘Powering up’ and developing renewable energy generation projects around Oxfordshire has been a key part of the Low Carbon Hub since our conception, and we currently own and manage over 40 renewable installations.
We won’t be stopping this anytime soon, and so the money raised in this round will be funding our pipeline of upcoming projects, including:
- Rooftop solar: earlier this year we installed rooftop PV arrays at West Witney Primary School and Langford Village Primary School, and we need funding to complete the finance on these installations. We also continue to explore other rooftop solar opportunities
- Ground mount solar: to meet our energy needs without exacerbating climate change we need to significantly increase renewable generation – and in Oxfordshire this means looking at ground mount solar. The money raised in this round will be put towards our pipeline of ground mount solar sites, which you can find out about in our Share Offer Document.
Replace £200,000 of debt funding in Sandford Hydro
The Low Carbon Hub IPS took out a £200,000 loan to part-fund the construction of Sandford Hydro. We used Oxford City Council’s short-term revolving loan to repay the initial loan we took out, but we now need to replace that with equity, so that we can reduce the debt burden of Sandford Hydro.
We look forward to sharing news with all of our Investor Members on how their money is being put to work. We report on the social and environmental impacts of our projects in our annual Social Impact Report and detail their financial performance in our Annual Performance Summaries. Keep an eye out for these over the next few months.
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