Farmers Weekly Promotion - more details...

Our client, a private investor, is looking to acquire sites for lease or purchase in the UK.  The sites should be suitable for the installation of either wind turbines or a hydropower system.

Wind turbines would have power outputs from 50 to 330 kW.  A 50 kW ‘Endurance’ turbine has a rotor diameter of 19 metres and a tower height of 24 or 36.5 metres.  A 330 kW ‘Enercon E33’ turbine has a rotor diameter of 33 metres and tower height of 37, 44 or 50 metres.

Hydropower systems would have a maximum power output of 50 to 100 kW.

On Wind Sites we are looking for:

• An average wind speed above 6.5 metres/second (this is 14.5 miles per hour or force 4 on the Beaufort scale – typically tops of exposed hills, open high ground, coastal areas etc.).
• A minimum separation from non-owned residential properties of 180 metres for 50 kW turbines and  500 metres for 330 kW wind turbines.
• Close proximity to suitable power lines for the grid connection (i.e. three-phase 11 kV power lines).
• No special environmental or landscape designations (i.e. not SSSI, SAC, AONB, National Park etc.).
• Good access from the A-road network, with no tight bends or weak bridges.

On Hydro Sites we are looking for:

• Sites with fast flowing watercourses (eg small rivers, large streams or burns) which have a gradient (“head”) of over 10 metres from top to bottom within the site boundaries.
• Average annual flow rate of at least 750 litres per second or above for a head of 10 metres. Flows less than this may be acceptable for higher head sites.
• All sites should have good access, be close to suitable power lines for a grid connection and be free from any special environmental or landscape designations (as described above for wind sites).

What we pay for:

• 100% of the feasibility study, licensing and planning costs borne by us.
• 100% of the capital cost and financial risk would be borne by us.
• All operational responsibility would be ours ensuring you a hassle-free regular income.
• Apart from the small footprint of the turbine(s) themselves and the access tracks, your farming / land use could continue as normal.

In return for a long lease the site owner would receive:

• For wind - regular quarterly income payments for at least 20 years based on 8% to 14% (dependent on site location and turbine size) of the gross income from the wind turbine.  The income derives from the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) and is index linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI).
• For hydro - regular quarterly income payments for at least 20 years based on 4% of the gross income from the hydro turbine.
• Use of the electricity on site at a significantly reduced rate (approx 5 p/kWh), provided you have suitable loads.

Alternatively our client would be willing to consider purchasing the freehold of the site on terms to be agreed.

What next?

If you think you have a suitable site please get in touch using our enquiry form, telephone (01453 88 77 44) or email (sites@renewablesfirst.co.uk) .   If using the enquiry form be sure to select "Farmers Weekly advert response" as the enquiry type.  Please provide as much information as you can to help us identify your site and assess the wind or hydro potential.

The development process will then follow this approximate schedule:

• If we think your site might be suitable we will contact you to discuss it in more detail.
• Initial desktop appraisals will then be conducted on the best sites.
• If your site is then considered appropriate for a more detailed analysis you would be invited to sign an option agreement on terms to be agreed.
• A detailed feasibility study would then be carried out on the site.
• If the site is still considered viable, licensing and planning applications would be prepared and submitted.
• Once all consents had been obtained, work would commence on the installation of the wind turbine or hydropower system.

The estimated time frame for the project is approximately 3 months to the detailed feasibility study stage, 6 months to the submission of licensing and planning applications and 2 years to full operation of the installation.

Note that we use only the highest quality wind and hydro hardware, ensuring the highest efficiency, long term reliability and quietness in operation.

More information on how power and revenue forecasts are calculated can be found on our wind and hydro intro pages.