Turn up the heat (From Western Telegraph)

Turn up the heat

Energy crops grown in Pembrokeshire will fuel the heat and power requirements of the £61 million Bluestone holiday village.

Developer William McNamara, a farmer who diversified into the leisure industry, is working with local arable growers to ensure that the energy needs of the project could be fully met with alternative crops.

Paul Ratcliffe, an arable and livestock farmer whose land neighbours the Bluestone site, has planted trial crops of miscanthus and canary grass. Commercial planting will begin in the spring.

Initial research, he says, suggests the crops are ideally suited to Pembrokeshire's maritime climate. "Most of the cultivated land in Pembrokeshire is mainly grade three loam and would be suitable for these fast-growing perennial crops," he said.

Mr Ratcliffe, who is co-ordinating the project, sees it as a good opportunity to create new income streams for farmers.

Estimates suggest growers who sign up as contract suppliers would be paid £25-£35 a tonne, depending on how efficiently the energy can be produced. Mr Ratcliffe expects an average second year yield of ten tonnes a hectare, but when fully established the crop will yield 20 tonnes a hectare.

Miscanthus, a recognised renewable energy and fibre crop, will cost farmers £1,800/ha gross to establish, but they could recover 50% from an energy crop scheme grant. The bamboo-like crop has a 20-year life cycle and would therefore cost growers £45/ha per annum in establishment costs.

At £250/ha, canary grass costs significantly less to establish, but attracts no grant aid and has a shorter life cycle, averaging seven years. Establishment costs per annum would be £30-£50/ha. Harvesting costs for both crops average £100/ha. "They are capable of producing far higher net margins than wheat without the reliance of area aid," said Mr Ratcliffe.

"The margins are comparable to food crops but the inputs are lower, the crops need less management time and the risks are fewer.

"The nutrient pull on the soil is very low so there are no fertiliser costs. All the crop needs is sunshine and water. Weed control with atrazine is important in the establishment period but after you get over the first 12 months it needs little attention." The project will be aided by CAP changes which allow for 10% of setaside land to be planted with energy crops.

"Food production is becoming a low priority politically. We must look for other uses for the land," suggested Mr Ratcliffe. "There is no doubt that we have lost control of the food market, where our margins are swallowed up by middle men. This project would be run as a farmers' co-operative and, as such, would cut out those middle men." Mr Ratcliffe has studied similar projects in northern Austria, where 30% of the energy requirements come from renewable sources.

Initially, members who sign up to the co-operative would supply half of Bluestone's energy requirements - equivalent to 300 hectares of crops. Forestry residues and wood would make up the shortfall.

But there is huge potential for expansion - a conservative estimate of 600/ha per year - if the co-operative succeeds in developing a ten megawatt combined heat and power unit in the county.

Mr Ratcliffe considers Bluestone to be a catalyst. "With one other big heat user we could create efficiencies to make a small power plant viable. There are many possibilities, perhaps a hospital, college or industry.

"I see it as a challenge, a change of direction. It is still about growing and utilising crops, the same skills are involved. But I see it as a chance for farmers to take control of their own destinies."