Green energy pioneer and former New Age traveller Dale Vince steps down from Ecotricity
Green energy pioneer and former New Age traveller Dale Vince has said he is stepping down as chief executive of wind power company Ecotricity to pursue a career in politics.
Vince, who founded Ecotricity in 1995 while living in an old army truck in Gloucestershire, said he plans to sell Ecotricity to new owners, with a view to playing a part in the next general election.
“The next general election is the most important of our all lives, and I want to play a part one way or another,” the entrepreneur said via Twitter.
The clean energy magnate founded Ecotricity after becoming a New Age traveller in the 1990s after leaving school at the age of 15.
The entrepreneur has previously donated to both the Labour Party and the Green Party and endorsed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party in 2019.
Green energy pioneer
Vince is considered to be one of the pioneers of renewable energy in the UK having built his multi-million-pound renewable firm out of just a single windmill in Stroud.
Today, Ecotricity has more than 87 MW of wind capacity and supplies electricity to 200,000 customers including 56,000 UK homes.
The renewable company, which pioneered Britain’s first megawatt scale wind farm, currently has turnovers of more than £300m a year.
The firm is also currently building a biogas production facility in Reading with a view to supplying the renewable gas to the UK grid.
In his Tweet, Vince said he would be “looking for a new owner” for Ecotricity, but said he would continue to act as chair of League Two football club Forest Green Rovers.
In a statement, Dale said: “This is a huge decision – it’s been my life for a long time and is arguably my life’s work.”
“But 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.”