Sheep farmer seals £10m pioneering windfarm contract

Published on Sunday 6 August 2006 00:13

A BORDERS sheep farmer has pulled off a £10m deal, due to be announced tomorrow, that will provide a model for financing future windfarm developments in Scotland.

Neil Ewart has secured guaranteed finance for his proposed windfarm near Langholm, which should allow the 10-megawatt Craig farm development to go ahead, providing enough energy to power 5,400 homes.

He has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Geotrupes Energy, which specialises in supporting independent renewable energy developers.

The PPA is a form of guarantee that it will buy the output of Craig windfarm's four windmills.

The PPA provides a similar security to Alliance & Leicester which is providing about 75% of the 10m funding in the form of debt alongside an equity injection from Ventus venture capital trust.

The package will enable the 10MW development, which has been through a long-running planning saga, to go into construction next year.

Commenting on the deal Ewart said: "I have had to go to appeal five times with the local planning authorities on every major planning decision.

"However, I am pleased that with the help of Geotrupes and the Ventus Funds we have finally got to a position where we can move forwards towards commissioning the windfarm."

James Dunning, managing director of Geotrupes Energy, said: "We firmly believe that there is significant opportunity for independent windfarms to be funded in this way and look forward to replicating this structure in Scotland and the rest of the UK."

Apart from servicing more than 5,000 homes, the environmental benefits of the scheme include the removal of 21,160 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year.

Geotrupes was formed in 2003 and specialises in the provision of long-term power purchase agreements to the renewables sector, with a particular focus on independently-owned and managed windfarms with a capacity of less than 20MW.

The firm's first deal was in Cambridgeshire and it is due to announce two further deals, one in Scotland.

Executive director Ashley Turner said: "Not many people are focusing on the smaller guys in this market, but there are a lot of farmers out there who need this sort of help."

Geotrupes had planned a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market until the recent stockmarket tailspin hit investor confidence.