Tredethick Farm Cottages (TFC) based in Lostwithiel, Cornwall has been a self-supplier with SFR since 2017. TFC was one of the first biomass boiler district heating schemes accredited under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) back in 2011. TFC uses miscanthus grass in a chipped form as a fuel to provide district heating to 8 holiday lets, a farmhouse and a swimming pool.
The scheme involves a 199 kW Eta Hack biomass boiler. This was installed before the RHI introduced the necessity for every system to have an emissions certificate for the specific biomass fuel they are using (Please note that any similar boiler installed after 24 September 2013 will need an emissions certificate for miscanthus chip) .
The fuel is sourced from 5.7 hectares of miscanthus that was planted on the farm in May 2012. So far 300 tonnes of miscanthus chip has been registered. The yields have been much lower than anticipated (~7 tonnes per hectare per year) so TFC have also acquired miscanthus from other local growers also registered with the SFR. These include Burlerrow Farm and Miscanthus Nursery. Around 140 tonnes of fuel has been sourced this way.
The relationship between TFC and SFR founder Kevin Lindegaard goes right back to the beginning of the project. Kevin’s company Crops for Energy was commissioned by TFC to do the initial feasibility study in the summer of 2011 and subsequent management of the energy crop planting.
When sustainability reporting was brought in October 2015, Kevin initially assisted with the self- reporting process. Since SFR was launched in 2017, Kevin has provided an assisted application service to TFC making sure they remain compliant.
Sustainability compliance is unfamiliar territory for most farmers, so Kevin has also made sure that other miscanthus growers that have provided TFC with fuel have been able to correctly navigate the allocation process.
You can find out more about staying at https://tredethick.com/ You can read a more in depth case study on TFC with further information on the start-up costs of the venture at: https://www.crops4energy.co.uk/tredethick-farm-cottages/