Mark Newton of Fisher German was quoted this week as saying "every farm will have a wind turbine within the next five years". With the announcement of new Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) today, the quote is even more significant.

The new FiTs are due to start on 1 April 2010 and very much favour small scale wind projects. Those who build a wind turbine on their land will receive and additional payment of between 9.4p and 34.5p per kWh for turbines of up to 15 MW.

Mark Newton of Fisher German comments "I expect this announcement will have every farmer and landowner with suitable land considering a single turbine. A hundred years ago, before electricity was readily available, livestock farmers had a single wind turbine to pump water from their wells, and I feel the countryside will see the return of a large number of small turbines. With poor returns in farming, many will have to become electricity producers. At Fisher German we have already been inundated with hundreds of farmers wanting single turbines before the FiTs were announced, I can only see this number of enquiries increasing substantially." 

The new tariffs particularly promote the development of smaller wind turbines ranging from 15-30 metres, height to hub. Farmers and landowners will receive a much higher payment per kWh compared with a large scale wind farm and could make over 25% on their investment. For example, a single 275kW turbine would typically cost about £400,000 to develop and produces an income in excess of £100,000 per annum depending on the wind speed, meaning they could break even in around four years. Considering FiTs will be paid for twenty years with RPI increases over the life of the project, this equates to sixteen years of pure profit and a total income of around £2 million.

Mark Newton concludes, "There has never been a better opportunity to invest in small scale wind energy and those interested have been presented with a fantastic opportunity. Yes, the initial cost of development may appear daunting but a number of banks have already contacted Fisher German as they realise the potential of these projects and are willing to lend. These smaller scale turbines are also less likely to annoy the neighbours, they should be easier to obtain planning permission for and will deliver to the countryside alternative green energy."