Bank launches £100m energy fund for farmers

MORE than one third of farmers want to install renewable energy projects on their and, most of them within the next year, and hope to generate average returns of £25,000 per year, according to Barclays.

The bank has launched a £100m fund to help farmers finance renewable energy projects, including solar panels, wind farms, hydro plants and organic waste power as a growing number of agricultural businesses seek to benefit from government support tariffs.

Travers Clarke-Walker, from Barclays said: “”We want to signal very clearly to the market that we consider this to be a big future industry, a big opportunity for agricultural businesses and also a big opportunity for the renewables.

“This is a quickly emerging industry.”

A Barclays survey of 300 agricultural customers also showed four out of five farmers recognise renewable energy can save costs and 60% see it as a source of additional income.

The use of renewable energy on farmland has been brought to public attention by Michael Eavis, farmer and founder of the Glastonbury music festival, who installed over one thousand solar panels on his land.

The cost of installing renewable energy projects can be recovered after around 10 years, Clarke-Walker said.

The government slashed state support for large-scale solar plants earlier this month as it was concerned a few huge commercial projects would scoop up money intended for household and community projects.

Nevertheless, Clarke-Walker expects around 80-90% of projects will be solar and wind farms as they are cheapest to build and their costs are forecast to drop by up to 50% in the next three to five years as demand rises and technology improves.

Britain aims to generate 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with 7.4 percent reached in 2010.

The fund’s loan budget is unlimited and the first £100m pounds could support well over 100 projects as the average cost varies between £250,000-£700,000, Clarke-Walker said.