The Northern Irish government must improve its support for farmers wanting to supply renewable energy, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said.
The comments are part of the union's response to the Department of Economy’s (DfE) consultation on design considerations for a Renewable Electricity Support Scheme for NI.
The UFU said the level of interest coming from farmers across the province about supplying renewable heat and power was 'significant'.
It added that it was 'critical' for the local government to support and encourage their "entrepreneurial enthusiasm".
The DfE had 'a key role' in providing support within government and this was vital to advance its renewable electricity agenda in a way that maximised benefits for farmers.
In doing so, the UFU said this would keep the supply chain short as well as promoting technologies that provided the greatest benefit in terms of employment.
The union added that agriculture could play 'an active role' in reducing carbon emissions, as it had resources at hand to play a big part.
However, there were "several key priorities missing" from this consultation which needed to be addressed at this early stage, the UFU said.
The UFU said it was 'concerned' that mechanisms of this consultation were based on large scale renewable electricity producers.
UFU deputy president, William Irvine said: “We have repeatedly emphasised that any future strategy needs to be inclusive, ensuring energy projects are supported not just at an industrial level, but for smaller farm scale renewable projects.
"The UFU fear that there is a lack of potential within the consultation for the NI agricultural industry, ranging from the micro to small renewable electricity production."
As well as being major load customers, over the last decade NI farmers have become significant generators of renewable electricity; small scale wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion, biomass and solar PV.
Small scale renewable generation from NI farmers now provides enough renewable electricity for 150,000 homes – emphasising the importance of the agricultural industry.
Mr Irvine said any future scheme should not be complex, adding: "It needs to be inclusive with an appropriate support mechanism in place.
"It is imperative that the government and policy makers act with pace to progress strategies and the development of renewable energy in NI,” he said.
