“Third Way” For Farmers to Share in Renewable Projects

It’s the scheme whereby farmers become more than just landlords, owning a direct stake in a renewable energy project on their land, but with no capital outlay on their part.

 

Participating farmers will potentially earn a substantially greater income than under a traditional lease. Financial modelling of a single 1.5MW wind turbine for a sample moderately windy site (around 7 metres per second at hub height) estimates total revenue to the landowner of around £1.8 million over 25 years.

 

The first wave of renewable energy projects in the innovative GreenPower-Share programme have been evaluated and are now progressing towards detailed planning applications.

 

GreenPower-Share focuses on wind and hydro-electric projects. GreenPower is looking for sites suitable for a single large wind turbine of 500kW or 1.5 MW capacity or a medium scale hydro project (75kW to 2 MW).

 

GreenPower-Share was launched, and received a very enthusiastic response, at last year’s Scotsheep event near Stirling. Since then, the team at GreenPower have been undertaking detailed feasibility studies and environmental assessments on the most promising projects. They have also been fine tuning the details of the concept, seeking feedback from some of Scotland’s leading rural property legal firms, including Anderson Strathearn, Morton Fraser, Turcan Connell and Gillespie Macandrew.

 

Nick Mackay, a director of Alloa based GreenPower said, “Based on the response from farmers to date, and the feedback from professional advisers to the farming sector, we are confident that GreenPower-Share is a winner, offering a refreshingly different opportunity to farmers across Scotland and the north of England.”

 

“We are now launching the next phase in the development of GreenPower-Share; a drive to find more farmers with suitable sites who are interested in joining with us to become part owners of a renewable energy project on their land. This will give them a direct share of the financial returns and a real say in how the project is managed, but with no capital outlay on their part.”

 

For further information on the GreenPower-Share scheme, call Nick Mackay at GreenPower on 01259 272158 or 07825 439 377 or visit www.greenpowerinternational.com GreenPower will be on stand V70 at the All Energy Conference in Aberdeen on 18th and 19th May 2011. (http://www.all-energy.co.uk)