Industry Eye: The green light for FITs is good news for those considering renewable energy plans

The green light has been given on small scale renewable energy technologies, with the Government providing the mechanism for financial incentives to be paid to producers for every unit of green electricity they generate.

The clean energy cash back plan is due to be implemented on April 1, 2010, and for those of you who aren't familiar with the term FIT (if not you will be before long!), it will in essence provide owners of wind turbines, solar panels, hydro plants, or small scale anaerobic digestion plants, with not only free electricity, but an income for every unit of electricity produced. Surplus electric can then be exported to the grid for which a payment is also made. In line with the confirmation on FITs, we are launching a new subsidiary company called gfw-Wind. We have been assessing the government's proposals for small scale renewable energy production for some time and have realised that there could be a huge potential for land occupiers throughout Yorkshire.

The confirmation over the FIT rates is a fantastic opportunity for land occupiers to take an active role in producing renewable electricity whilst at the same time reducing their electricity bills and getting paid to produce it!

gfw-Wind will provide a platform for land occupiers to understand more about the renewable wind energy opportunities ranging from small (micro) turbines (up to 15m in height), to mid (up to 500kW per hour) and big wind turbine projects.

We have really noticed that there is such variance of technology out there and the costs and therefore it's crucial to understand the benefits and pitfalls of wind projects.

Feed in Tariffs for small scale production ranging from 1.5 – 15kW will receive a tariff of 26.7p/kW if installed by March 2012.

So for example a 6kw/hr rated turbine producing say 7,500 kW hrs per annum (dependant on wind speed) would receive just over 2,000 per annum for 20 years irrespective of whether the electricity is used or sold to the grid. If you used the electric you could save a further 600-800 depending on your rates. In order to get the FIT, the turbine must be MCS registered (in effect a government control over the technology), and without this MCS there is no FIT which doesn't make it a worthwhile investment. The return on capital will completely depend on wind speed and grant availability, but could be between five to eight years.

We're also really excited by the mid wind turbines (up to 45m in height), which offer some potential huge savings for some land occupiers and good return on capital but the key is the planning and the location, definitely worth looking at though.

We will be hosting free seminars in the next few months throughout the region and I look forward to sharing with you the pitfalls and benefits of such technology.

Louis Fell is a partner at chartered surveyors George F. White who operate throughout Yorkshire. Contact www.georgefwhite.co.uk