Given the recent headlines on renewable energy subsidy cuts by the Conservative government a lot of UK farmers are unsurprisingly unsettled. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The renewable energy industry is now mature, and much more able to become self-sufficient.

The Energy Now Expo, taking place in February 10 and 11, 2016 is an event for farmers and landowners to find out exactly what options are available to them, offering a chance to hear from industry experts speaking in multi-stream panel debates, and there are some excellent businesses offering secure schemes that stand up in their own right.

Jonathan Scurlock, chief renewable energy and climate change adviser for the NFU will be speaking in the Energy Now Expo multi-streamed conference, and says the current government are seemingly flexing their muscles with this ‘energy policy reset’.

“Clean energy is in the firing line. Beginning with the Conservative manifesto commitment to limit the growth of wind power, then hitting solar with cuts to the feed in tariff scheme, the list of revisions to government policy on green measures just goes on growing, and these changes are naturally disconcerting for farmers. But I’m positive that this is not all negative for the industry.

“The maturing renewable energy sector offers a lot, circumventing the basic need for government incentives,” he says.

According to Jonathan, many farmers have already concluded that diversifying their agricultural businesses with clean energy production is a sensible way of supporting profitable farming and enhancing Britain’s food security in a volatile world, “and there are some convincing pitches from renewable energy companies to farmers, wanting to benefit financially from renewables.

“Farmers are worried about rising energy costs, they’re dealing with weather volatility, and fluctuating commodity and food prices that are currently low, but they can utilise renewable schemes to generate heat and power to offer extra income to support profitable farming,” he says.


The options are growing, as the sector evolves, for instance, farmers not in a position to borrow money may be able to opt into a competitively priced power purchase agreement, where they can expect to pay around seven or eight pence per unit, offering long term savings,” he says.

“Opportunities in solar will be more competitively priced next year, and even though the margins are tightening for installers and developers, there are still attractive deals.

“The ending of ‘new subsidies’ for onshore wind means that the sector will have to move into subsidy free territory, and there is tougher planning guidance for all new wind turbine applications, where it needs to be subject to certain assessments. The real issue lies with farmers who want planning in England to install their own turbines, although the large scale wind industry has negotiated some leeway with the government,” says Jonathan.  

Regardless of these cuts, Jonathan is positive that in the absence of strong political opposition, the way forward must be to engage with ‘pro-business advocates’ that champion the green economy and the greening role of small-to-medium sized enterprises. “The private sector should lead the transition to a low-carbon economy,” he adds.

According to David Jacobmeyer, director of Energy Now Expo, where Jonathan will be speaking next February, the event has developed a number of new features to ensure visitors can access the most up to date, innovative opportunities available in the renewable energy sector, and there are plenty to choose from.
“Oil prices, as well as other heating and power bills will keep rising, farmers are working to tighter margins, and there’s a case for installing renewable energy initiatives not only for keeping down energy costs, and generating extra income, but also for numerous on site uses as well. There’s an increase in ‘private wire agreements’, where you can sell the power you generate to local power users. This is local businesses working with other local businesses, and is an alternative to the grid.

“Storage is another area that’s developing massively. Historically there have been two options in terms of energy use; using it, and or selling it to the grid. Storage is the third option, with exciting ideas in development, such as having your own mini-grid on site, to store and use energy whenneeded, which is why we’ve added a dedicated energy storage session to our conference and invited a number of key suppliers of these types of system to participate in the exhibition,” he says.

Energy Now Expo continues to be the only renewable energy event organised exclusively for the agricultural and rural sectors, and free places are available to book today.

To register for the event, free of charge visit www.energynowexpo.co.uk.