About us

Ynni Teg develops sustainable community energy initiatives to help realise our vision of a low-carbon, low-cost energy future for Wales.

About us

Ynni Teg develops sustainable community energy initiatives to help realise our vision of a low-carbon, low-cost energy future for Wales.

Our mission

‘YnNi Teg is the pan-Wales developer of community-owned clean energy infrastructure in Wales, working with local organisations to enable communities to take greater control of our energy for a more resilient Wales.’

What is Community Energy?

Community energy is essentially about empowerment – encouraging people to come together and giving them the ability and authority to take actions to ensure that the energy infrastructure serving them meets their needs now and in the future.

This involves enabling communities to –

own the means to produce and make use of low-cost renewable energy
save energy and thus costs.

Community energy companies are usually constituted as some form of social enterprise, who’s goal is often to provide wider social, environmental and economic benefits – build confidence, develop skills, keep money in the local economy, support businesses and create local job opportunities, all of which help to make our communities more resilient.

Our History

YnNi Teg was established by Community Energy Wales in 2017 as an independent entity to own and operate a 900kW wind turbine at Bwlchgwynt near Meidrim, Carmarthenshire that was commissioned in August 2017.

Surplus income from the turbine goes into a local community benefit fund and also provides support for the activities of Community Energy Wales.

Since then, we have grown in ambition. We now employ a team of professional staff to undertake our development work on our renewable energy projects and also support other groups across Wales through our Development Services.

Our Structure

YnNi Teg Cyfyngedig (Fair Energy Ltd) is a social enterprise that operates as a profit-making company, but its profits are used to meet and provide tangible community benefits.

As a Community Benefit Society, our members are also our shareholders. Shares cost £1 each, and members earn interest on their investments (not dividends). Regardless of the number of shares held, each member has one vote, ensuring democratic participation.

Rules and Governance

YnNi Teg is governed by a group of volunteer directors in accordance with a set of rules which are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. The day-to-day business is managed on behalf of the board by a paid Executive Director. Our rules are available to download here.

Community Benefit

Our Rules state that the objects of the Society shall be to “carry on any business for the benefit of the community including the construction and operation of community led renewable energy generation installations”. We aim to meet the objects in two general ways –

Developing our own projects that provide opportunities for local ownership, surplus revenues for community benefit funds and, where feasible, reduced long-term costs to local consumers.
Helping other organisations in Wales to develop their renewable energy projects that will offer similar benefits to their communities. This help is provided by the activities of our Development Team.

See more information about our community benefit funds here.

Collaboration and Future Goals

We maintain strong ties with Community Energy Wales, supporting its mission to promote our sector through both operational and financial support. Beyond our own projects, we are pleased to work together with other organisations and our goal is to do more of that in the coming years, helping to grow the community energy sector and the green economy in Wales.

In doing so, we welcome the support from the Ynni Cymru and Welsh Government Energy Service agencies and, in turn, we aim to work with them to help achieve the Welsh Government’s aspirations to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.