Farmers discovered how renewable energy could help them cut costs and increase income at a major conference held in the east of England.

The conference, organised by Windcrop in conjunction with the NFU, provided a one-stop-shop of information, case study examples and costings from experts in the field of all renewable energy sources. Over 100 NFU members, farmers and landowners attended the event held at Easton College on Tuesday 14 February to learn more about how the different options available could suit their own land and businesses.

Alex Dinsdale, Environmental Policy Adviser at NFU and one of the organisers of the event, said: “We know some of our members have already taken up renewable energy sources. But, as we saw from the attendance at the event, there are still many who are intrigued by renewable energy and want to know more before they take the plunge and make final decisions.”

The conference began with a reminder of the importance of considering renewable energy systems for the future by UEA Emeritus Reader Keith Tovey, who highlighted the issues facing the UK’s energy supply and the dwindling availability of fossil fuel generated energy.

Alex added: “The subject of renewable energy and its importance is not new to farmers, it has been on the agenda for a while and most people have a basic understanding. But to take the next step, farmers want clear advice on what is available and evidence as to how different options could suit and benefit them.”

Informative presentations were delivered by John Moore from Windcrop Ltd on wind power and systems, Gary Battell from Suffolk County Council on biomass energy, Robin Purser from Econergy on solar power and Guy Ransom from Finn Geotherm on ground source heating.

Expert speaker John Moore, Managing Director of Windcrop, said: “We’ve helped to organise several of these renewable energy conferences across the region now and we are always pleased with the attendence and feedback received. In the current economic climate, and looking ahead to the future, many businesses and landowners are thinking about adopting some renewable energy systems to offset the rising cost of fossil fuels and, in some cases, as a source of revenue.

“Taking the final step can be difficult, with uncertainties about the actual return on investment, reliability of systems and the government’s commitment to the feed-in-tariffs. That’s why we believe it is important to work with organisations such as the NFU to organise events like this and bring all the information together.”

Following the success of the conference the NFU will be working with Windcrop to organise a similar event for other members across the east of England.

For more information about future renewable energy conferences or to organise a conference with Windcrop visit www.windcrop.co.uk or contact Katie Lown at Windcrop on 01603 882152 or email Katie.lown@windcrop.co.uk

Details
Norfolk Farming Conference 2012 explorers the future opportunities for farmers: Landuse 2020.

Windcrop will be exhibiting at this event. If you are interested in partnering with us to co-host a renewables event, please get in touch: katie.lown@windcrop.co.uk

For more details on the event click here

Date: 15th – 16th February 2012

Location: The Malvern Showground, Worcestershire
Sector: Farmers, businesses
Details
Energy Now Expo has proved to be an extremely popular event, highlighting the sheer amount of interest in renewable energy that farmers and landowners from all over the country have. There will be a conference to further explore and identify the renewable energy opportunities available to farmers & landowners.

These sessions will be complimented by an exhibition full of suppliers and developers representing every type of renewable energy, all of whom will be on hand to answer queries on any alternative energy related issues.

Windcrop will be exhibiting at this event on stand 54.

To find out more about the event click here

Date: 14th February 2012

Location: Easton College, Norwich
Sector: Farmers, businesses, domestic users, smallholders
Details
Like many local businesses and landowners, you may have been thinking about adopting some renewable energy systems to offset the rising cost of fossil fuels and, in some cases, as a source of revenue. Taking the final step can be difficult, with uncertainties about the actual return on investment, reliability of systems and the government’s commitment to the feed-in-tariffs.

Together with the NFU, we would like to invite you to a renewable energy seminar where you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the technologies available to you. We will focus on the most practical choices available to farmers and landowners alike and have arranged for industry experts to speak about wind power, biomass boilers, solar energy and ground source heating.

The event will take place in the Sports Conference facility at Easton College and will be well signposted on arrival. Please follow signs to Tennis Court Road, Car Parks 1 and 2 and the Sports and Conference Centre where there will be ample parking facilities. Please go straight to the main entrance at the sports hall to register. You can find directions to Easton here: http://www.easton-college.ac.uk/about-easton/directions/ or for sat navs, the postcode is NR9 5DX.

HOW TO BOOK
Contact Sue Baldock on 01603 882152 or via email at sue@windcrop.co.uk supplying her
your contact details.

Tickets are £10 per person, and cheques should be made payable to NFU and posted to:

Windcrop, The Granary, Honingham Thorpe, Colton, Norwich NR9 5BZ.

For more details on the event click here

If you are interested in co-hosting an event with Windcrop, please contact Katie Lown on 01603 882152 or katie.lown@windcrop.co.uk

Details
Windcrop will be giving Norfolk Smallholders the opportunity to learn more about having a small wind system, covering every aspect from the planning process through to the installation and maintenance. As well as learning more about small wind systems, there will be opportunities to talk to existing Windcrop customers about their experiences of living with a turbine.

The seminar will conclude with a Q&A session where delegates will be able to discuss any queries, followed by soup and rolls by the fire. Cost: free to NSTG members.

If you are interested in partnering with us to co-host a renewables event, please get in touch: katie.lown@windcrop.co.uk

For more details on the event click here

Windcrop gathered pace at gale force speed throughout 2011 and has ended the year by celebrating its 100^th turbine installation and more than tripled its workforce with the creation of twenty five new jobs at the recently expanded headquarters in Honingham Thorpe, Norfolk.

Norfolk Farm Produce, which specialises in the production of potatoes, rhubarb and carrots, became the site for Windcrop’s 100^th installation in December. Three 15m high turbines have been erected at Crossways Farm to help power the farm’s workshop and machinery, including the storage facilities and the irrigation pumps.

Windcrop’s managing director, John Moore, said: “Having 100 of our systems installed across the region, and a further 342 in progress, proves that interest in renewable energy systems is continuing to grow.”

John added: “Norfolk Farm Produce already had one of our systems installed at its Drury Farm site to help power the water treatment plant used in the carrot washing process. It’s fitting that our 100^th installation was with an existing client.  It proves that once the systems are installed the benefits are clear and landowners look for further opportunities to use an unproductive piece of land to generate renewable energy.”

Norfolk Farm Produce has a company-wide mission to enhance its eco-credentials and is keen to cut costs while conserving the environment. Andrew Horningold, part of the management team at Norfolk Farm Produce, explained: “We take our environmental responsibilities seriously and customers rightly expect us to put the environment at the forefront of what we do. We have a responsibility to think about a sustainable future and it was a logical step for us to use renewable energy sources.”

He added: “In such a difficult economic climate, and with the cost of fuel increasing, free energy production has made it a lot easier to reduce our electricity bills. I’m looking forward to comparing our electricity costs with last year’s to see what we’ve saved – it looks very promising so far.”

To be able to complete the 100 installations and to continue to fulfil the 342 contracts currently in progress, Windcrop created a further 25 jobs in 2011. This has seen the team grow from 7 to 28 – more than tripling the workforce. The jobs have been created across the company including in the installation team, customer service department, planning department and marketing team.

The company also more than doubled its office space earlier this year acquiring more space at its headquarters in Honingham Thorpe to house the growing team and business.

John Moore added: “It has been an extremely successful year and we are looking forward to expanding further in 2012. We will continue to introduce more people to the benefits of wind power and the importance of renewable energy for the future through active participation at exhibitions, conferences and shows across the region and the UK.”

Windcrop currently operates in East Anglia, but satellite operations have been planned for Wales and Scotland.

We’ve been delighted to help and support Simon and Alison Brice, who own Poplar Hall Farm in Suffolk, by installing three turbines to help cut electricity costs and recoup some losses after the farm was devastated by fire a year ago.

A major blaze ripped through the farm in Occold, near Eye, in June last year after an electrical fault in the piggery shed’s wet feeding system. On what Simon describes as ‘one of the most awful days of their life’ it destroyed the building which was the central hub of the farm and resulted in the death of nearly 300 pigs.

With stock and income down it has taken over a year to rebuild the farm back up to its full capacity of over 4,000 chickens and 3,000 pigs.

Simon said: “After the fire I was determined to rebuild the farm and looked into ways in which I could save some of the money we had lost and become more efficient and sustainable for the future.  Having researched renewable energy systems I decided to start with wind energy as this seemed to offer one of the quickest ways to make an immediate and noticeable impact.”
As a result, the farm’s free range chickens have welcomed three 15m high, 5kw wind turbines as neighbours.

“Although I haven’t yet had a bill through, my digital meter reader shows that the turbines have already cut my electricity costs by at least half,” said Simon. “I did have some initial concerns that the chickens may be frightened or spooked by them, which could affect the lay, but they don’t seem bothered at all and I’m still getting as many eggs as usual.”

John Moore, said: “We were saddened by Simon’s story but delighted to be able to play a part in rebuilding the farm to become more energy efficient.  Because we carry out all the organisation, installation and ongoing maintenance of the turbines, generating our own return through feed-in-tariffs, we were also able to leave Simon free to continue running and rebuilding other areas of the farm.”

John added: “We’re also pleased to hear that we were proved right in our reassurance that the chickens wouldn’t be worried by their new neighbours!”

Simon’s focus on rebuilding the farm with energy conservation and carbon footprint in mind has been met with a positive reaction from neighbouring farmers.

“Several of my neighbours have commented on how good the turbines look, although most have also asked whether I’ve found them to be noisy” said Simon. “But they are only 100 metres from the farm house and I can honestly say that even on a really windy day the sound of the trees rustling and the buildings creaking is noisier than the turbines.” 

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Site Assessor, Gareth Moore, has been spending time teaching a new generation about sustainable energy for the future.  He gave an interactive presentation to 23 pupils from Glebeland Primary School in Toft Monks as the school looks to ramp up its green credentials.

The presentation took place at Clinks Care Farm, also based in Toft Monks, where we have installed a turbine at the 143 acre site.  By holding the event at Clinks Care Farm, we were able to give the children the opportunity to see one of our systems in action and really bring wind energy to life.

The group, aged between 10 and 11 years old, listened attentively while Gareth covered the history of energy, where it comes from and how we use it. The children were also given a lesson in how renewable energy, especially wind power, could be used to replace fossil fuels and protect the environment for the future.

Gareth said: “We got the children really involved in the story about renewable energy.  For instance, we compared the actual size of 4000 tonnes of fossil fuel used to power a cargo ship to the size of their school building – it’s really eye-opening! We also showed the actual power output from the Clinks wind turbine and the children were encouraged to discuss their thoughts on green energy solutions.”

Glebeland Primary School’s head teacher, Alan Williams, believes it is important to engage and educate children at a young age about their environment.

He added: “We wanted to give the class the chance to expand upon what they are currently covering in the curriculum. Gareth’s talk has inspired the children to think for themselves about green issues. We are always looking for ways to improve the school’s eco-status and the pupils are very interested in these issues.”

Solar installations completed after Monday 12th December are likely to see long-term incentives halved, but final decision still rests on consultation.

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