It's now 10 years ago that France's first wind park to be funded in this way was commissioned by GDF SUEZ. Since then, the Group has developed a range of models for participative funding of renewable energy projects, and is now announcing the upcoming creation of a new crowdfunding platform called Green Channel. Around 10% of the Group's wind power capacity in France is already funded this way.

The Le Haut des Ailes wind park was the project that pioneered the crowdfunding trend for onshore wind power

It was in 2005 that the Le Haut des Ailes wind park (in the Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle departments of Eastern France) was commissioned to become the first in France to be developed using a local shareholding model that enabled local investors to buy shares in a Société par Actions Simplifiées (S.A.S.) alongside GDF SUEZ: 98 local shareholders seized the opportunity to receive a guaranteed annual return of 7% over 12 years.

This close relationship between local stakeholders allowed the Group to develop this wind park in just two years, whereas the average length of time for such projects in France is eight years, as a result of the many disputes and appeals they attract. The practical engagement of local residents, more extensive local consultation and fair, direct distribution of financial gains are the three cornerstones of this success.

A choice of participative funding models for onshore wind power

In building on the success of the model used to fund the Le Haut des Ailes park, the Group has since identified a number of alternative wind power participative funding models in the process of developing other renewable energy projects:

  • Local shareholding, the funding model first adopted for the Le Haut des Ailes wind park and repeated for the Le Mont de Bézard wind park in the Aude et Marne department (12 wind generators 22 MW), where 80 local shareholders receive an annual return of 6% over 12 years
  • The protocole foncier land use agreement, which was used to develop the 78MW Les Haut Pays wind park in the Haute-Marne department (the most powerful operated by GDF SUEZ in France), bringing together 180 landowners and farmers
  • The Société d'Economie Mixte (SEM) semi-public company structure in which an energy generator invests alongside one or more local authorities, like the SODEGER Haut Lorraine SEM formed in July 2011 by the Le Pays Audunois Joint Communities Authority and GDF SUEZ. Its project to build a seven-generator (16.8 MW) wind park should become a reality in 2019
A crowdfunding platform to expand participative funding for renewables and involve stakeholders

The Group today announced the creation of a crowdfunding platform to expand and develop participative funding for renewable energy projects. The new Green Channel platform should be operational this summer.

France suffers from a shortfall of wind power generation - less than 4% of all electricity consumed in France comes from onshore wind, compared with more than 30% in Denmark - but by bringing local authorities and local residents together, participative funding makes these projects more publicly acceptable. Incorporating this local dimension into the Group's projects is the prime objective of the future Green Channel crowdfunding platform. "Participative funding contributes to greater local acceptance of projects," says Bruno Bensasson, President and CEO of GDF SUEZ Energy France. "And this platform will encourage local operators to come forward with the initiatives and develop innovations not only for renewable energy, but also for energy efficiency."

As a pioneer of this participative approach to the funding of renewables, GDF SUEZ has inspired others to follow in its footsteps. May this year will see the launch of a European crowdfunding platform for renewables called Citizenergy. It also shares the same goals of facilitating the adoption of renewable energy development projects by enabling citizens to invest directly in them.

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