Farmers in the north-east could earn nearly £40,000 a year renting out land for large-scale solar farms.
An Aberdeen-based solar photovoltaic (PV) energy company is on the hunt for sites to rent on the east coast between Fraserburgh and Berwick-upon Tweed in the Borders.
BWE Partnership says it will offer rents of around £750 an acre for sites of between 20 and 50 acres in size.
This equates to £37,500 a year for a 50-acre site, or at least £937,500 for the lifespan of the project.
Leases will be offered for a 25-year period, with rents likely to increase every five years.
The company has already secured planning permission and grid connection for a site in Carmyllie near Arbroath, with the solar farm expected to be up and running by the end of this year.
The 9.5MW farm, which will produce enough energy to power around 6,670 homes, will be located on 50 acres of land at Robert and Brenda Jackson’s New Mains of Guynd farm.
“The site was selected because of its excellent levels of irradiance which is vital to the effectiveness of a solar park as this powers the entire project,” said BWE owner Ron Shanks.
“Scotland continues to build a strong reputation in the renewable energy sector and the build of this solar park will represent a significant step forward. We hope solar in Scotland will help to complement onshore wind in providing renewable energy for our country and look forward to this project coming to fruition.”
Kevin Jackson, a partner at the host farm, said renting out land for the solar scheme would allow the family to maximise income generation from their land without hindering day-to-day farming activities.
BWE said although it was most interested in sites on the east coast, other land areas would be of interest if they had suitable levels of irradiation and grid availability.
“Sites with the best levels of irradiation are generally located within 10 miles of the North Sea although this can vary with the local climatic conditions,” said Mr Shanks.
“The sites must be a minimum of 20 acres and up to around 50 acres, either fairly level or south facing, and they must be outwith a Sepa one-in-200-year flood zone. The land must be adjacent to or within 1km of a substation. In the Scottish Hydro Electric area, the land can also be suitable if it has 33kV power lines running over it.”
