A new funding programme for renewable energy projects ( i.e wind turbines) is now available from the DARD Rural Development Programme - ”Rural Life” stream. The programme provides 50% of eligible project costs up to a maximum of £50,000.00 per project.
Potential funding levels, up to £50k will depend on the specifics of the project.
Depending on the technology proposed, certain prerequisits are necessary at the time of application, for example an independant feasibility study (not produced by the technology installer). Funding is also available for 50% of the cost of feasibility studies, under the technical assistance element of the same programme. It should also be noted that installers & equipment (wind turbine >50kw) must be MCS accredited.
Both of Silverford’s class leading turbines – Gaia 133 and Endurance E3120 qualify for the grant!
To see why we choose the Gaia 133 & Endurance E3120:
See how the Gaia 133 compares other MCS & Non approved turbines here
See how the Endurance E3120 compares to other turbines here
Eligble groups include:
- Farmers (diversifying into energy production, i.e wind turbine)
- Community Groups
- Rural Businesses
Administration and Application:
The scheme is administered via several Local Action Groups (LAGs) spread throughout Northern Ireland. For more information please contact your local LAG directly (see below).
Silverford Renewables can provide full assistance for the above DARD grant application, for their range of class leading wind turbines- see here
A full list of the revelant Local Action Groups (LARG’s), in Northern Ireland is listed below:
| Admin Unit Managers | |||||
| GROW | DRAP | ||||
| Name | Emma Stubbs | Name | Marguerite Osborne | ||
| Address | C/o Antrim Borough Council, Antrim Civic Centre, 50 Stiles Way, Antrim, BT41 2UB | Address | Ards Business Centre, Sketrick House, Jubilee Road, Newtownards, BT23 4YH | ||
| Tel | 028 94 481 311 | Tel | 028 91 820 748 | ||
| emma.stubbs@antrim.gov.uk | Marguerite.Osborne@ards-council.gov.uk | ||||
| NER | SWARD | ||||
| Name | Andrew McAlister | Name | Terry Scullion | ||
| Address | Ecos Centre Millennium Environmental Centre, Kernohan’s Lane, Broughshane Road, Ballymena, BT43 7QA | Address | Gortalowry House, 94 Church Street, Cookstown, BT80 8HX | ||
| Tel | 028 25 638 263 | Tel | 028 86 76 4714 | ||
| Andrew.rdp@ballymena.gov.uk | terry.scullion@cookstown.gov.uk | ||||
| SOAR | LRP | ||||
| Name | Elaine Cullen | Name | Padraic Murphy | ||
| Address | Craigavon Borough Council, Lakeview Road, Craigavon, BT64 1AL | Address | c/o Lisburn City Council, Island Civic Centre, The Island, Lisburn, BT27 4RL | ||
| Tel | 028 38 312 573 | Tel | 028 9250 9383 or 07791757497 | ||
| elaine.cullen@craigavon.gov.uk | Padraic.murphy@lisburn.gov.uk | ||||
| ARC NW | |||||
| Name | Donagh Jackman (Covering for Claudine McGuigan) | ||||
| Address | (Temporarily) Omagh District Council, The Grange, Mountjoy Road, Omagh, BT79 7BL | ||||
| Tel | 028 82 245 321 | ||||
| Donagh.Jackman@omagh.gov.uk Claudine.mcguigan@omagh.gov.uk | |||||
Terms And Conditions For DARD Grant:
RENEWABLE ENERGY GUIDANCE (DRAFT)
-
- Renewable Energy – applications for stand alone renewable energy projects may be deemed as eligible in the following circumstances:
Measure 3.1 Farm Diversification-
A stand alone renewable project can be funded at up to 50% grant aid to a maximum grant level of £50,000 providing the diversification project is for the farm owner or farm family member to become an energy producer and 100% of the output is sold to a third party e.g. NIE (none of the energy produced is used to increase the profitability of the farm business and increase GVA).
Existing Farm diversification projects wishing to use renewable technology.
Renewable energy applications from farm owners or farm family members that are intended to increase the profitability and increase GVA of a farm diversification business new or existing i.e. a business free standing from the main farm business may be accepted under Measure 3.2 or, if appropriate, Measure 3.3. In these cases, the diversification business MUST be completely separate to the existing farm business and that appropriate technology is in place (e.g. metering) to enable it to monitor the project and verify that none of the energy produced is diverted to the farm business in other words all energy generated must either be used by the diversified business or sold to a third party e.g. NIE.
Measure 3.2 – 3.6
Private Promoter -A renewable energy project can be funded at up to 50% grant aid to a maximum grant level of £50,000 to increase the profitability and increase GVA of the business.
Social Economy Enterprise – A renewable project can be funded at up to 75% grant aid to a maximum grant level of £50,000 to increase the profitability and increase GVA of the SEE business.
2.79.1 General Rules
Any Public Match-Funding must be non-EU funding e.g. Carbon Trust Funding is ineligible as match-funding
Stand alone renewable equipment (except Anaerobic Digesters) can be applied for under all six Axis 3 measures.
Applications should be split into two categories :-
Generating electricity & Heat and water
(i) Generating Electricity
State aid rules apply to all grant aid under Axis 3 and subject to the overall funding threshold of 200,000 euros therefore in calculating possible grant aid all applications involving generation of electricity must take any potential renewable obligation certificates (ROC’s) earnings into account for a period of 3 years. This information MUST be included in the feasibility assessment and included with the application.
ROC’s calculation
A ‘ROCS’ calculation must be carried out using the guidance and examples at Table 1.
The ‘earnings’ from ROC’s plus any other grant aid should be taken into account to assess if an application for grant aid is worth while.
Electricity prerequisites
All projects MUST provide at time of application :-
- An independent (i.e. not produced by the installer) feasibility assessment which MUST include projected outputs.
- Planning permission (where appropriate)
- NIE connection agreement quotation (G83 for under 50kwh and G59 for over 50kwh) confirming D Code compliance of proposed kit.
If any of the above are not included then the application can not be accepted as eligible.
Banding of output
Equipment will be processed under two bands, up to 50kwh and over 50kwh.
Up to 50Kwh
Only equipment and installation accredited under the ‘Micro generation Certification Scheme (MSC) will be eligible.
To check if equipment MCS certified look up on link below
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/product-search.php
To check if installer is certified look up following link
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/installer-search.php
Over 50kwh
Applicant will have to provide evidence of track record of equipment and installer (at least installing for 2 years and equipment on the market for two years.
Successful applications
If an application is successful and is offered a letter of offer then there will be 3 mandatory requirements (to be included in Letter of offer) that will have to be put in place before any claims for payment can be accepted by the council administration unit as follows :-
Warranty All projects MUST have a minimum of a 2 year warranty agreement in place.
Maintenance All projects MUST have a minimum of a 5 year maintenance contract in place.
Insurance All projects MUST have a valid insurance certificate in place. This certificate MUST be renewed annually and be available for inspection for a period of at least 5 years from date of last payment. Over and above normal conditions the certificate must cover lose of earnings due to downtime and/or mechanical failure.
(ii) Heat and Water
No calculation is necessary for projects that are simply going to produce heat and/or hot water.
Prerequisites
All projects MUST provide at time of application :-
- An independent (i.e. not produced by the installer) feasibility assessment which MUST include projected outputs.
- Planning permission (where appropriate)
Equipment and installers
Only equipment and installation accredited under the ‘Micro generation Certification Scheme (MSC) will be eligible.
To check if equipment MCS certified look up on link below
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/product-search.php
To check if installer is certified look up following link
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/installer-search.php
Successful applications
If an application is successful and is offered a letter of offer then there will be 3 mandatory requirements (to be included in Letter of offer) that will have to be put in place before any claims for payment can be accepted by the council administration unit as follows :-
Warranty All projects MUST have a minimum of a 2 year warranty agreement in place.
Maintenance All projects MUST have a minimum of a 5 year maintenance contract in place.
Insurance All projects MUST have a valid insurance certificate in place. This certificate MUST be renewed annually and be available for inspection for a period of at least 5 years from date of last payment. Over and above normal conditions the certificate must cover lose of earnings due to downtime and/or mechanical failure.