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£300 million was invested in commercial-scale independent renewable energy projects by businesses, communities, farmers and landowners last year, new figures reveal.
A report by Smartest Energy showed that 843 new projects, with an average cost of £353,000 each, came on supply during 2013.
There are now 2,930 projects of over 50kW capacity now in operation across the country, with the capability to generate almost 20TWh of electricity a year
This represents a 40.4 per cent increase in the number of new projects and a 31.9 per cent increase in capacity compared to the previous year.
The report also stated that onshore wind accounted for 45 per cent of all independent generation; that solar capacity has grown by almost 150 per cent; and that onsite generation was up by more than 25 per cent compared to the previous year.
Iain Robertson, Smartest Energy’s head of generation, said: “More than £1 million was invested every working day in 2013 and the 843 new projects commissioned are now having a direct impact on the businesses, communities, landowners and developers behind them.
“Faced with steep rises in energy costs and concerns over security of supply, investing in renewable energy projects is a highly cost-effective way to save money and develop a new income stream.”
Robertson added that the introduction of subsidy schemes such as the Feed-in Tariff, new funding options, and reductions in some technology costs, were significant factors in the growth seen in the sector over the past two years.
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