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."