Huge Turn Out For NFU Meeting On Renewables

THERE is plenty of interest in renewable energy if the turnout at a NFU Scotland meeting at Aberfeldy yesterday is anything to go by.

The Town Hall was full but this was no surprise for NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren.

“Farming has always been driven by renewable energy through wind or water mills or oats to feed horses. We have had 100 years where oil has taken over but now we are going to have to harness natural resources again,” he said.

The interest in renewables has been boosted by the recent introduction of feed-in–tariffs (FITs). These encourage the generation of renewable energy by guaranteeing payments per unit of electricity produced for up to 25 years.

But there has been doubts about whether projects part-funded by capital grants through the Scottish Rural Development Programme were eligible for FITs. New projects awaiting approval will only qualify for a grant if no FIT is being sought.

Mr McLaren said that the cap on SRDP eligible projects of £250,000 would inevitably make the FIT option more attractive for larger projects.

Renewable energy from biomass, especially home-produced wood, has been a Cinderella to date but that should change by next year when a new scheme is likely to be in place to provide the equivalent of a FIT.

Harry Wilson, director of Crieff-based RTS Woodlands said he expected that a Renewable Heat Incentive would be in place by spring 2011.

It is proposed that it will pay 9p per kilowatt an hour for schemes providing up to 45 kilowatts; 6.5p for up to 500kW and between 1.6 and 2.5p per kilowatt for larger installations. Wood burning stoves would be excluded.

The heat supplied for smaller projects will not be metered but will be estimated on the size of the building to be heated. Installations generating more than 500kW will be metered, however.

Mr Wilson expected that the new incentive would boost a wood-fuel industry.

But he cautioned against planting at high densities on a short rotation to meet biomass demand. Planting at conventional spacings would provide a timber crop with more than one market.

Mr McLaren said that new plantations would be eligible for Single Farm Payment and seen as a sign of activity on the land.

The NFUS members also heard about the latest developments in small-scale wind power and run-of-river hydro schemes before going to visit Alex and David Murray’s hydro installation at nearby Camserney.