Ecotricity founder Dale Vince has decided to sell the company, saying on social media that the aim was to “clear the decks for some new frontiers” including a move into politics. He said on his ‘Carbonista’ podcast that he had been considering the move for some time – and had ‘probably stayed too long’ at Ecotricity but the Covid crisis had put any move on hold
Vince said he wants a new owner that shares Ecotricity’s commitment to green energy and has the £2 billion of funding needed to develop the company’s green energy pipeline. Currently, Ecotricity has 2,500MW of renewable energy generation in planning. The company blog said this was more than twenty times what Ecotricity has built organically over 25 years, using its “bills into mills” funding model. Even this year’s target to complete 30MW in the form of two solar parks and a battery represents a 30% increase in what the company has built over the last two decades.
Ecotricity supplies around 200,000 homes and businesses across Britain, employs more than 800 people and said it has a turnover of over £300 million this year.
In the Ecotricity blog, Vince, said “… it’s the right decision at the right time – our pipeline of green energy projects is way beyond what we can fund ourselves, while at the same time, the country’s need for new sources of renewable energy has never been bigger…
“By passing the baton now to a new owner, Ecotricity will be able to play a big role in the accelerated shift to 100% green energy on the grid. And I will be able to play a part in the next general election in some way or another.”
Last year Ecotricity failed in its attempt to take over fellow green supplier Good Energy.