I have seen many an article supposedly penned by a farmer that rails against the installation of onshore wind turbines on their land. When you do some background research you tend to find that the farmer is, in fact, a pro-fossil fuel hack who has adopted Wurzel credentials for a day to get off another anti-wind article or a down-at-heel genuine farmer who has been “persuaded” to have his or her name used to grumble about these “obscene noisy alien monstrosities” blighting his land and annoying his livestock.
As a keen walker, I come across many farmers’ pastures and wind turbines and when the farmer is around I always make a point of stopping and asking them about wind turbines on their land or in close proximity. I have never received any negative comments. Here is a genuine farmer explains the advantages of diversifying into renewable energy at an open day at his farm. Chris Lount, from Leconfield near Beverley, East Yorkshire, has recently demonstrated how farmers can cut costs and increase income by diversifying into green energy. Mr Lount’s farm consists of 400 hectares of wheat, oilseed rape and spring beans.
In 2012 he installed a 24m Endurance E-3120 wind turbine which generates 50kW of electricity, supplemented by solar panels on his farm buildings.
The energy generated runs the farmhouse and other farm buildings. Angela Wallace, of company Hallmark Power, said:
“The turbine generates enough electricity to power a farm with relatively high energy consumption, with excess available to feedback into the grid. So it cuts energy costs as well as generating an income. In fact, Mr Lount only needs a small amount of the energy he generates, thereby stabilising energy costs and providing a guaranteed annual source of renewable income.”
Feed-in Tariffs are fixed, so a farmer installing facilities on-farm will receive a guaranteed level of income for many years to come.
Mr Lount said:
“At the time we decided to install a wind turbine crop prices were struggling and we wanted to do something to secure some income for the future. Basically, we wanted to put our eggs in a couple of different baskets. We’ve also got solar panels on a shed. We use electricity from both sources in the house and to power the workshop. The rest is sold back to the grid. Planning permission was fairly straightforward. One or two local people asked me about it in the village, but nobody had any real complaints. I’ve been delighted with the investment and Hallmark Power have been really helpful every step of the way.”
Let’s hope that more farmers see the economic sense in investing in a wind turbine on their land to provide them and the grid, with green power. And I am told that the farmer’s livestock has no problem sharing their field with a turbine.
