Triodos Renewables Energy fund has exceeded its £8.5 million fundraising target, attracting almost £10 million from institutional and retail investors during a recent share issue.

The company, which invests in clean energy projects such as wind farms, said existing investors and institutional investors including Rathbone Greenbank, Morley, and RBS Wealth Investment Management gave ‘exceptionally strong support’.

New shareholders numbering about 700 also took up the offer, bringing the total to over 4,000. The share issue brings the company’s total assets to £40 million.

James Vaccaro (pictured), managing director of Triodos Renewables, said investors had shown confidence based on the company’s track record of investing in clean technology.

‘Triodos Renewables offers a powerful way to make a difference, and we’re delighted so many people chosen to take it,’ he said.

The money will be used to more than double the amount of green electricity produced by the company’s projects within three years, Vaccaro added.

Jean Morris, a shareholder from Worcestershire, invested in the company for her 11 grandchildren. ‘It is satisfying to think that I have helped build a more renewable future in the UK for my children and grandchildren,’ she said.

The fund is a public limited company traded through Brewin Dolphin. Its portfolio includes eight investments with a total capacity of 23.45MW, which Triodos Renewables says is enough to power 15,500 homes and saves about 60,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions a year.