A holistic approach to farm electricity needs
While the food generated by farming powers the nation, what is powering the farm? Approaching farm electricity needs from a different angle could make a huge difference to your bottom line. Farmers are crucial to the UK’s energy transition due to the vital role they play in renewable energy production. Your land and expertise are essential to achieve renewable energy targets and mitigate climate change in the UK.
At Conrad Energy we’re proud to work closely with farmers and landowners and we value the long-term relationships we have with them highly.
We know how the agricultural sector has been affected by the huge fluctuations in the energy markets over the past few years – resulting in large price hikes and uncertainty. Our range of services are designed to mitigate these issues.
Through our ongoing partnership with Farmers Weekly, we collaborate closely with landowners to offer support and help explain what opportunities diversification can offer. DEFRA figures show that 21% of farmers now earn more than half of their income in this way. Energy installations are an excellent way to cut your overheads and/or to establish a stable income stream. Not only that, they can also increase the profitability of other areas of your business.
Available opportunities with Conrad Energy:
- Host an energy development (e.g. battery or solar) on your land
- Sell us the energy or excess energy from an existing asset (e.g. wind turbine) via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
- Create a generation source on-site to power your business cost-effectively
- Buy your energy at a competitive price from us
Lease your land and generate a long-term income
Where your farm has potential to connect to the grid to export energy, there are some profitable avenues to explore. A land rental lease agreement creates a long-term, predictable and secure income stream for the farm – resistant to fluctuations in weather and market conditions. Location and topography will play their part here, but a grid connection opens up the possibility of selling energy created by a solar, wind or biogas plant to the market. Whether you choose to lease the land to a developer for them to install an energy development, or build your own and enter into a Power Purchase Agreement, is a decision for you.
Is your land suitable?
We’re looking for partners with land which is:
- In close proximity to an electrical substation, overhead line or buried cable
- Not within a designated area i.e. AONB, National Park, SSSI
- Either rural or industrial
Call us on 01235 427290 to discuss the suitability of your land.
Generate your own energy on-site and save up to 30%
You may wish to consider generating your own power to meet your the farm’s needs. Since storage technology has moved forward and feed in tariffs are no longer available, the need to be able to export to the grid isn’t an investment barrier. On-site generation could be located on rooftops, or marginal land, to minimise the impact on farmable soil. Ground mounted solar arrays can be designed to allow sheep grazing around and underneath them.
Secure a great price for selling your export energy
For farms that generate more energy than they need, there are opportunities to sell the surplus through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). If you have a grid connection and are on half hourly metering, we can help you sell the excess power. But even without one, there could be private wire prospects. We offer PPAs on existing energy assets as well as those we have installed ourselves.
Plus, our leading-edge systems and expert in-house trading capability ensure we achieve excellent returns for energy assets placed under our management.
Save money and hassle on your energy supply
We supply energy to farms on fixed price contracts, giving you cost stability for 12-36 months. If you have a half hour meter, we can handle your supply. With the meter details, we be able to analyse your historic energy usage and tailor a suitable, fairly-priced solution.
Your farm will benefit from keen prices, free from uncertainty around cost fluctuations. And, if you choose a green contract, you’ll be doing good for the environment too because the energy is from renewable sources.