Crowdfunding has become very popular for musicians, artists, and even inventors. Recently, 1,700 Dutch households set a crowdfunding record by raising $1.8 million in just 13 hours. What did they get for their money? A 2-megawatt wind turbine.
The Dutch company Windcentrale organized the purchase, offering some 6,600 shares in the turbine at a price of about $260 each. Households could buy a single share or a block of shares, and each share entitles them to about 500 kW-h of electricity each year.
Windcentrale was founded in 2010 in order to set up windpower cooperatives in the Netherlands. They typically buy somewhat older turbines from the Danish manufacturer Vestas and enter into a separate maintenance contract with the firm for each one.
The energy produced by the turbines is sold by the company Greenchoice, which was one of the first green competitors of standard utilities in the Netherlands.
Installing a wind turbine here and there will not make a huge dent in the Dutch energy appetite, but by involving thousands of individual families in these purchases, Windcentrale is hoping to build broad public support for the technology.
Shareholders can monitor wind speeds and energy production for their turbines with a smartphone app. So far, nearly 7,000 Dutch households have taken part in these wind cooperatives and thousands more are waiting for their chance to participate in future installations.
Large wind turbines are an expensive proposition, but with the power of crowdfunding, ordinary citizens can get in on the action.
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Dutch Wind Turbine Purchase Sets World Crowdfunding Record
Photo, taken on August 25, 2013, courtesy of Lamoix via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.