farmers use
heating costs
on nearby farms as feedstock to produce
biogas to generate electricity for the
country’s national grid.
Wind, solar power
Heat is not the only renewable resource
being exploited by European pig producers.
In England, a number of pig farmers are
harnessing the wind and the sun to help
them reduce rising fuel bills.
Suffolk pig and poultry farmer Simon
Brice and his wife Alison have resorted to
using both wind power and solar energy
to help them restore their business after
a devastating fire tore through their pig
sheds last year.
Caused by an electrical fault in the
piggery’s wet feeding system, the early
morning fire destroyed the pig shed and
killed more than 300 pigs – part of a
1,500 herd under contract to finish – on
the site in Suffolk, on the eastern side of
the country.
At first, Brice had to rely on a back-up
generator that provided enough power
for the hen house. However, they were
determined to rebuild the business back
up to its full capacity of 3,000 pigs (which
account for about 80% of their business)
and more than 4,000 chickens. They
immediately looked into ways in which
they could save some of the money
January/February 2012 | www.WATTAgNet.com
English pig farmers Simon and
Allison Brice cut their energy bills by
using wind and solar power.
lost – and become more efficient and
sustainable for the future, as well.
“We had to depopulate after the fire
and having researched renewable energy
systems before, I decided to invest in
some form of wind energy, because that
seemed to offer one of the quickest ways
to make a noticeable impact,” said Brice.
After a year, the pig business is
back up and running at full speed with
the introduction of three small-scale
5-kilowatt wind turbines, which stand
15 meters high, a new pig shed and the
first batch of pigs. It also has reached full
capacity on the poultry side, with 4,000
chickens.
A spokesman for the installer,
Windcrop Ltd, commented that the
5-kilowatt generators were designed to
reduce installation time, minimize the
ground space required and make planning
permission easier to obtain.
“In a typical installation with around 5
meters per second average wind speed,
these systems will produce approximately
8,000k Wh of electricity each year. In a
high wind area, this could go as high as
20,000k Wh,” he said.
According to Brice, “Although I haven’t
had a bill through yet, my digital meter
reader shows that the wind turbines have
already cut my electricity costs by at least
German pig farmer Ulrich Wessel-Ellermann combines slurry with
maize and rye silage to produce
heat and power from his anaerobic
digestion plant.
half and I am now working with another
company to put some solar panels on the
buildings in the near future.”
He added that his plans to rebuild the
farm with a particular focus on energy
conservation and reducing its carbon
footprint have garnered a positive reaction
from neighboring farmers.
“Several of them have commented
on how good the turbines look, although
most of them have also asked whether I‘ve
found them to be noisy. They are about
100 meters from the farm house, but I can
honestly say that even on a really windy
day the sound of the trees rustling and
the buildings creaking is noisier than the
turbines.” PIGI
