Kilbirnie community wind turbine enters commercial operation

News

03 Mar 2026

Landmark community project in Scotland, which Thrive helped fund, is now generating clean energy locally, creating blueprint for national rollout.

Article written by anna.cooper

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The Attix CIC turbine in Kilbirnie has completed its first full week of operations, becoming Scotland’s first community owned development to operate commercially without long-term government subsidies [1].

Capable of generating over 7,000MWh of clean electricity a year, the equivalent of powering more than 2,000 average Scottish homes [2], the 2.5MW community turbine will deliver over 3,000 tonnes of carbon emissions reductions annually [3].

This is the first project to be funded by Community Energy Catalyst (CEC), Thrive’s joint venture with Better Society Capital. Thrive initially provided a £4 million loan to Attix CIC in 2023 to fund construction and operation and this was transferred to CEC in July 2025.

Now operational, Kilbirnie wind turbine will directly benefit local causes, with all profits from electricity sales going into Radio City’s programme of sustainable development projects that address the need for capital investment in a new Employment Hub, offering employment and training opportunities for local people, improve sustainable transport opportunities and help to address health and educational inequalities locally, as well as upgrading local sports and recreational facilities [4].

It will also support the charity’s ongoing work to address the substantial fuel poverty in its community through assistance with energy vouchers, distribution of halogen heaters and electric blankets, as well as and one to one advice to combat and reduce peoples’ energy bills.

“This has been a long and at times torturous journey for our community, but we have prevailed and come out at the end stronger than we started, with a long-term valuable asset that will pay massive dividends for an area too long ignored for investment by others. We are now embarking on a different journey but bolstered over the long term by re-investing proceeds from our endeavours back into improving facilities and services locally and addressing some of this area’s many challenges.”

Allan Wilson, Director, Attix CIC

“The Kilbirnie wind turbine is proof of the vital role that communities have to play in the transition to clean energy, not only adding vital capacity to the grid but ensuring the benefits are felt at a local level. We’re thrilled to see the turbine commissioned and look forward to seeing the impact it has within Kilbirnie, helping support some important community causes and initiatives that have historically struggled for funding.”

Matthew Clayton, CEO, Thrive Renewables

This watershed moment for community energy follows the UK Government and Great British Energy publishing its Local Power Plan this month, aiming to invest £1 billion in locally owned clean energy projects and ensure communities directly benefit from the schemes they host [5].

“This is what community energy is all about – giving people a stake in energy generation so profits go to what matters, from tackling fuel poverty to improving local sports facilities in Ayrshire. With Great British Energy we are delivering the biggest public investment in community energy in Britain’s history, through our Local Power Plan, so more communities can own and control clean energy projects that deliver benefits for their area.”

Energy Minister Michael Shanks

“The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the growth of community energy through CARES and we are proud to have provided this project with both funding and support. Every community project is important in helping us to achieve a just transition to a net zero future and my congratulations go to the team at Radio City Association for reaching this important milestone in what is a significant and innovative development in delivering community-owned energy.”

Energy Secretary Gillian Martin

The collaborative approach to funding the wind turbine provides a blueprint for financing the community-led energy transition from the ground up. It brings together £5.6 million in blended finance – £1.6 million in social investment from Social Investment Scotland and £4 million from Community Energy Catalyst. Local Energy Scotland supported the project through planning and design with a loan from the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). The project has also received a combination of Great British Energy and Scottish Government grant funding via CARES.

“ATTIX shows what communities can achieve when they have the right tools and finance to take ownership of their local energy infrastructure. Community-owned renewable energy like this is an amazing way to help meet the UK’s growing energy needs while also ensuring the benefits flow back to the communities that host them. This project is a big milestone for community energy in Scotland. We are really happy to have played a small role in this, and we’re keen to see more partnerships like this between communities and investors this year.”

Joe Shamash, Investment Director, Better Society Capital

[1] The project operates on a ‘merchant’ basis selling electricity on a purely commercial basis, without government price support mechanisms such as Contracts for Difference or historic Feed-in Tariffs.

[2] Calculated using the most recent subnational statistics from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) showing that average domestic household consumption in Scotland is 3,429.3kWh per annum.

[3] Carbon reduction is calculated by multiplying the estimated annual generation (7GWh) by the number of tonnes of carbon which fossil fuels would produce to generate the same amount of electricity. We have used DESNZ’s “all non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 448 tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (July 2025) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied”).

[4] ATTIX CIC is a Community Interest Company established, and asset locked to Radio City Association Ltd to develop the community turbine in Kilbirnie.

[5] According to its recent strategic plan, Great British Energy (GBE) plans to support over 1,000 community energy groups to take a stake in the UK energy transition.