Farmers could have more opportunities to earn an income from wind power, thanks to a new joint venture between low-carbon experts CO2Sense and the agricultural wind power specialists ADAS.
The new company will seek out agricultural land that is suitable for wind turbines, and will then develop and run turbines on these sites. Landowners will receive an income, and the land will still be available for farming.
The £2.6m deal between the two companies will enable the development of single, medium-scale 500kW turbines on a range of sites. Farmers whose land is used for the turbines could receive up to a million pounds of income over 20 years, with no upfront costs.
Colin Speller, ADAS Group Managing Director, said, “This new joint venture is a great step forward for renewable energy in the agricultural sector. By bringing together the resources and expertise of ADAS and CO2Sense, we can open up more sites and help more farmers and landowners to get a new source of income.”
Joanne Pollard, CEO of CO2Sense, said, “With the government being legally required to generate 15 per cent of the UK’s energy from renewable sources by 2020, it’s essential that we seize opportunities to develop wind power in appropriate locations. By working with ADAS, we’re confident that we’ll be able to develop wind turbines on many new sites across the UK.”
The new company will continue to use the ADAS subsidiary company REsolved Renewables to source and plan new sites. It is hoped that the first new sites to be developed by the joint venture will be fully operational within two years.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article