Many people will be familiar with Russell Conwell’s story ‘Acres of Diamonds’ about the farmer who sells his farm to travel the world in search of diamonds, only to return home many years later to discover that the field of black rock he had sold was now a diamond mine.

Choosing the right investment to make can be very challenging with myriad of advice that is just a few clicks of the mouse away and the number of ‘experts’ who are very happy to suggest where you should  invest your money for you.

There are many very good investment advisors but we should also remember that just a few months before Northern Rock failed and precipitated the financial crash, that they were being hailed by financial analysts as a success story and a share to buy.

Rather than looking to investment opportunities that are further afield, community energy projects may provide an exciting alternative and one that is local to you.

Community energy projects are operated through not for profit community benefit societies, with the aim of offering their members a return on their investment and at the same time helping local communities address the challenges of increasing energy costs, fuel poverty and reliance on fossil fuels.

The benefits of investing in a community energy project are:

  • Enabling the community benefit society to own renewable energy projects that will return environmental, social and economic benefits to the local community
  • Being able to participate the way the society is managed through the one equal vote per member rule
  • Be eligible for an annual interest payment of your shares – typically 4% – 5% over the lifetime of a renewables project
  • Helping to fight climate change through displacing fossil fuel usage and the amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere
  • Depending upon your taxation status tax savings may be available on your investment through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (as the actual tax savings depend upon on each individual’s own tax position you will need to consult a tax adviser)

As a firm we act for a number of community energy projects, including Bath + West Community Energy who have raised in excess of £11m across seven different share offers with investors receiving returns in excess of 5%.

Next time you are considering an investment it might just be worth considering what the hidden diamonds are in your area.