Recently in renewable energy Category

A new brokerage service has been launched to help farmers access funding for renewable energy projects.

ReEnergise Finance is offering packages from £75,000 to £5m for projects involving renewable technologies such as biomass, solar, wind or heat pumps, as well as traditional technologies that improve energy efficiency.

Unsecured asset finance, secured commercial loans and individual project finance is available.

“What is apparent is that different technologies require different forms of finance with different terms,” said Adam Hewson, director, ReEnergise Finance. “We believe many traditional lenders are reluctant to back projects that involve the introduction of renewable technologies such as biomass and AD…the trick is finding fit [finance] and working with a partner that will get you the right deal.”

Anyone constructing a new agricultural building should consider maximising additional income from a roof-mounted solar installation, says Strutt & Parker.

The firm has just opened one of its first solar barn projects at EW Davies Farms in Thaxted, Essex (pictured below) and says that even with the lower Feed-in Tariffs a solar barn should pay for itself in around 20 years.

The Essex barn, which cost £265,000 to build, measures 4,800 sq ft and incorporates four 20 ft bays, roller shutter doors and mono-pitch roof with a 50kW solar PV installation. It was finished ahead of the cuts to FiTs last December and should pay for itself (building and PV) in 17 years. Energy generated supplies the new farm building and other grain stores on the site, with the remainder transferred into the grid.

S&P says performance of solar PV on similar sites is approximately 35% above expectations, partly due to 2011 being 10% brighter than average years.

Fancy a free biomass boiler? Energy company Anesco has launched a scheme where eligible businesses can get an ETA biomass boiler, fuel storage and delivery system installed for free. The boilers, which generally range from 50kW to 200kW run on either wood pellets, chip or wood gasification and could help cut heating bills by 30-50%, Anesco claims.

What’s the catch? In return for providing the boiler, the company will take the Renewable Heat Incentive payments and it also needs medium to large size facilities that have a fairly constant heat load throughout the year.

Drax has scrapped plans to build a large dedicated biomass power station at Selby in Yorkshire.

The firm was “disappointed” with the government’s proposed level of support for the technology, but said it remained committed to using biomass. The company planned to invest £50m this year to increase biomass co-firing capacity at its existing Drax power station from 12.5% to 20% of total output.

While it sources some biomass from the UK, it is likely a large proportion will be imported from areas such as North America in the future.

Onshore wind and hydropower developer Dawn Energy has launched a £5m fund to finance wind developments up to 1.5MW or hydro schemes up to 1MW.

Interested landowners must demonstrate their land is potentially viable for either scheme before the firm carries out its own feasibility assessment and will select the best sites to qualify for the fund.

Dawn Energy will enter a joint venture with the landowner and create a special purpose vehicle for the project, of which both parties will be shareholders. The firm will buy an equity share in the SPV and also provide senior debt finance for the construction and development of the project. The interest rate will depend on the size and cost of the project, however managing director, Waseem Hussain said it would be competitive with current market rates.

There is no set minimum or maximum amount available, although very small micro-scale projects are unlikely to qualify.

“In the current economic climate, we are keen to support landowners who want to construct their own single turbine or hydro power schemes but are finding it too difficult to obtain the appropriate funding from banks,” said.

Representatives from the solar industry have urged government to reconsider the drastic cuts to the Feed-in Tariff that came in for systems installed after 12 December.

A letter signed by 200 prominent individuals and organisations, and a Friends of the Earth petition signed by 17,000 people was delivered to Number 10 this week, urging the government to protect the solar sector and the FiTs scheme.

“We are calling on Cameron and Clegg to intervene to ensure a future for solar power beyond 1 April 2012,” Renewable Energy Association chief executive Gaynor Hartnell said.

“The cost of solar is falling so dramatically that in about five years’ time it should cost no more to generate one’s own solar power than to buy it from an electricity supply company. To get there we need commitment and stability, not boom and bust.”

The NFU has urged government not to “marginalise” the bioenergy sector, following publication of the Committee on Climate Change’s bioenergy review.

Chief renewable energy adviser Jonathan Scurlock was concerned by the lack of ambition for developing domestic bioenergy in the report, pointing to proposals to withdraw Renewables Obligation support for large-scale biomass power generation and the recommendation for delayed target setting for transport biofuels.

But he welcomed the report’s conclusion that the UK’s carbon targets would be hard to meet without bioenergy and that bioenergy should be combined with carbon capture and storage to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“Around 4m tonnes of straw, plus a similar amount of new energy crops, could be supplied without disrupting existing agricultural markets” he said.

Mole Valley Renewables has joined forces with the renewable electricity supplier Good Energy.

The company has been chosen as the Feed-in Tariff licensee for Mole Valley’s Farmers Power Station, which pays members with installations of over 30kW for the electricity they produce.

The Farmers Power Station was created last year and is a “virtual power station” made up of individual renewable energy generators combining their power production to maximise the unit price for energy export. Its energy projects currently generate 1.5MW, with a further 3MW in orders and 14MW in the pipeline.

Essex-based pre-cast concrete company Milbank has formed a partnership with the German silage clamp construction specialist Böck Silosysteme.

The deal has resulted in the formation of a new company, Bock UK, which offers a range of silage clap services, including design, manufacture, installation and maintenance, including coverings.

The company believed demand for silage clamps in the UK would be boosted by the demand from biogas plants using energy crops as the main feedstock. Böck installed the UK’s first silage clamp of its kind at Future Biogas in Norwich and three more have followed in partnership with Milbank.

“Although the Bock silo system (known in Germany as the traunsteiner silo system) is commonplace in Europe, it is only recently that the UK market has seen the benefits,” Sean Milbank, managing director of Milbank said.

Grants of between £2,500 and £25,000 are available to farmers, foresters and horticulturalists for investment in green projects and new machinery.

The funding comes from a £20m DEFRA initiative to help rural businesses improve profits and reduce their impact on the environment.

Projects under The Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme will fund green schemes to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. Support is also available for cutting dependence on artificial fertilizers through better use of manures, for improving soil quality, better animal health and welfare, saving and recycling water and more efficient timber processing.
 
The grants will be allocated between now and December 2013 and will cover a maximum of half of the total cost of projects in uplands areas and a maximum of 40% of the total cost in non uplands areas.