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Landowners turning green with en(ergy)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Catherine Deshayes

 

In a true example of putting their money where their mouth is, more than 90 per cent of landowners have revealed that they are actually considering having some form of renewable electricity generation schemes on their estate, rather than just jumping on the bandwagon and talking about going green...

Ninety-two per cent of landowners polled by Knight Frank at the CLA Game Fair said that they were very keen to live a greener existence. The introduction of the feed-in tariffs earlier this year is the main reason behind the flood of landowners keen to generate some form of green energy, with 80 per cent citing the tariffs as the push they needed to investigate renewable energy schemes.

There are two renewable energy tariffs - the first is for electricity and is known as the Feed-In Tariff and this went live on April 1st 2010.

The second is for heat and is known as the Renewable Heat Incentive and this goes live on April 1st 2011.

The purpose of the two tariffs is to pay people a decent and guaranteed amount for the renewable energy they generate themselves, calculated at a minimum eight per cent annual return on your investment all income tax free. They are designed for normal energy users, such as households and businesses.

If you are confused about what the tariffs are, check out my recent guide which explains these eco-energy tariffs at http://www.themovechannel.com/news/c20de366-1e3d/

Wind power was found to be the most popular form of renewable generation, with 56 per cent of landowners saying they would consider putting turbines on their land.
Solar photovoltaic was also considered an option by 52 per cent of landowners, while 28 per cent were interested in hydro schemes and 24 per cent in anaerobic digestion.



Christopher Smith, head of Knight Frank's Renewables and Energy department, said, "The results of our survey confirm the appetite of rural landowners for renewable electricity generation. They also show how successful the introduction of renewable energy feed-in tariffs has been in encouraging people to invest in renewable schemes.


"Of the people we questioned only eight per cent currently generate renewable electricity on their estates, now we have FITs almost 100 per cent are planning to get involved in some sort of way.


"Because FIT tariffs are guaranteed for up to 25 years they offer landowners a long-term income generation stream. For many estates that have seen their agricultural incomes fall sharply, renewable energy will completely transform their balance sheets.
On one estate that I looked at two modest 275kw wind turbines will increase the annual income from £150/acre to £400/acre.


"Renewable energy also offers the potential for pension planning. One client, for example, is considering investing his pension pot in a photovoltaic scheme that will cost £350,000, but will generate an annual income of £35,000.


"I believe that renewable energy will become an increasingly common revenue generator on rural estates as almost every estate can benefit in some way," he added.

Check out homes for sale all across the UK at  http://www.themovechannel.co.uk/property/england/

Picture by SteveFE

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