A local partnership bringing sustainability to farming

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 26 June 2020

Geo Green Power have worked alongside RT Farms, an international and sustainable arable farm in North Nottinghamshire, for many years.

In 2017 RT Farms were offered 1.5MW export connection, so we used our experience of solar PV and ground source heat pump technology to create a suitable scheme for the business and make the operation eligible for the Renewable Heat Incentive. We combined solar power and the UK’s largest ground source heat pump at the time (480kW) which together now save almost 500 tonnes of CO2 every year.

Our installation has enabled the 2,500 acre farm business to use their 1.5MW connection profitably, transfer even more of the farm’s operation onto renewable energy and completely remove the need for LPG which was previously used for heating and drying on the farm. As RT Farms prides itself on its sustainable farming credentials, this move away from fossil fuels is a crucial milestone.

RT Farms’ James Thomas added:

“Geo Green Power have designed an intelligent system to barn dry agricultural crops with renewable heat. The system prioritises the use of our solar PV generated electricity and reduces the higher cost, imported electricity from the grid.

“When we are not drying crops, during the winter, generated heat is re-directed to a district heating system within our traditional farm buildings for climate-controlled storage and working areas.

“Geo Green Power took a very thorough and detailed approach to this system and we continue to work alongside them to meet our ever-evolving requirements within our business.”

The 250kW solar PV system generates approximately 225,000kWh of electricity per annum. This power is programmed to feed the ground source heat pump system directly and any surplus can either be consumed elsewhere around the site or exported to the grid.

The ground source heat pump effectively multiplies the electrical energy input to the power of 4. The system sources heat from the ground and uses 1kWh of electricity to produce 4kWh of heat. This means that the 225,000kWh of solar electricity that supplies the heat pump generates approximately 1,000,000kWh of renewable heat!

The solar generation alone reduces carbon emissions by approximately 112 tonnes per annum and when combined with the heat pump a further 375 tonnes of CO2 will be saved every year.

The farm business was paying approximately £50,000.00 in LPG every year for their heating and drying requirements which is now a direct saving being delivered by the system and the farm is benefiting from the Renewable Heat Incentive.

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