This year’s Energy Now Expo will take place on 16 and 17 February 2011 in Malvern. This event is for UK farmers and landowners who are interested in renewable energy opportunities. Come and meet us (and the rest of the industry) there.
The consensus among renewable energy professionals and commentators appears to be that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will become operational in June 2011, and that the detail of the scheme – which heat technologies are included and the levels of financial support on offer – will become known in late February. The
Department of Energy and Climate Change site simply states that the scheme will go ahead in 2011.
Like the feed-in tariffs (FITs), the RHI aims to help the UK meet its emissions reduction targets by boosting the rate of return on clean energy investments. As with FITs, this financial support will gradually be withdrawn through degression (reduction) of the levels of support as uptake of these technologies increases and the resulting economies of scale allow costs to be driven down.
‘In many supermarkets you can now buy milk far cheaper than bottled water’ said James Withers, Chief Executive of NFU Scotland. Referring to a recent price drop allowing consumers to buy 8 pints of milk for £2, he said, “retailers have renewed their cut-throat battle for customers and we really fear that family farms, and ultimately shoppers, will pay the price.
The UK’s dairy farmers are already paying the price through reduced wholesale prices, and many of them are looking to strengthen their negotiating positions by diversifying the sources of income from their land, including generating income from renewable energy installations such as wind turbines, which have a negligible impact on grazing acreage. Single turbines, sometimes referred to under the heading ‘medium scale wind’, can be installed with little visual impact and without creating friction with neighbouring landowners.
So said Jackie Cracknell, Chair of Hilston and Tunstall Residents’ Association when Energie Kontor’s planning application for a wind farm at Hogsea Lane, Roos, near Withernsea, East Riding, was denied at appeal this week. “We are only a small group of residents,” she continued “so being able to achieve this is great.”
Food for thought as the medium-scale wind industry, encouraged by the feed-in tariffs (FITs) introduced in April of last year, gathers pace in the UK. These smaller installations overcome many of the difficulties associated with wind farms. They are less likely to cause friction with neighbouring landowners and they allow farmers with relatively small areas of land and with dwellings nearby to generate income from the FITs and make a contribution to meeting the UK’s renewable energy target.
As 2010 draws to a close, negotiations on a new EU agricultural policy continue, but the UK’s feed-in tariffs (FITs) for small and medium scale renewable energy producers, including farm energy operations, are already in place. We work in partnership with landowners and farmers to set up small-scale renewable energy schemes on your land. You pay us nothing, and in return for allowing us to use your land you receive a share of the income from the electricity generated, which includes the FITs income. To find out whether your land might be suitable, please call us on 0121 449 4443, mail us sites@fineenergy.co.uk or visit our website www.fineenergy.co.uk.