Who are we?

Frost-Free grew out of the experiences of Fintry Renewable Energy Enterprise (FREE) in the Stirlingshire village of Fintry.


The community of Fintry formed FREE in order to negotiate with the developer of a local 14-turbine wind farm for an extra turbine to be added for the community. The 15-turbine wind farm is now operational and, for the next 20-25 years, the village Development Trust will benefit from the sale of electricity from the additional turbine. This benefit is in the region of £40-£70,000 per annum whilst all costs are being repaid but will be significantly above this when the costs have been repaid.

From the outset, the members of the community who managed this project were aware it was something that could be duplicated in other communities. frost-free (Fintry Renewable Outreach Support Team) was therefore set up to help other communities.


Bill Acton and Martin Turner established Frost-Free as an independent company to enable other communities to replicate the success that Fintry has achieved in acquiring its own commercial wind turbine. Bill and Martin were involved in the original Fintry project from the start and wish to use this unique experience to help other communities achieve similar aims.
Frost-Free helps communities develop their own renewable energy projects and/or engage with commercial projects in their area.
We believe that renewable energy developments provide real opportunities for communities to achieve long-term sustainability. By either developing their own renewable energy projects or engaging with commercial projects, local communities can have a fair share of the profits. We have succeeded in developing a model that requires no up front funding from the community to become a stakeholder in their local renewable energy project, yet one which allows for a sizeable, sustainable income stream.

Earlier this year, frost-free entered into a unique partnership with leading onshore wind energy developer, West Coast Energy to encourage and support local communities across the UK to harness the financial benefits of local wind energy projects. West Coast Energy has been involved in consenting over 600 MW of wind power across the UK. This venture has proven to be a success and currently community partnerships are being progressed in Aberdeenshire, Fife, Angus and in the Highlands.

Our Aims

Our aims are to:

Help communities to benefit from commercial wind energy projects proposed for their own local environment
Help communities to develop their own renewable energy initiatives
Provide financial and technical assistance throughout the development of the project
Help communities access private and public funding to support their enterprise
Assist communities in setting-up and running Community Development Trusts, to allow them to manage their projects and derive a direct benefit from them.