Land for Wind Energy Generation :
An Income Opportunity.
Installing a wind turbine on your land involves obtaining the necessary consents to do so which includes planning permission from the local authority. It also entails a very significant financial investment in the equipment and the costs associated with its installation. Finally it involves the ongoing maintenance of the system for the lifetime of the installation.
A means to avoid such costs and the associated risks while benefiting from wind energy generation is to lease your land in return for an annual rent. This can be done via an option agreement between a generating company and you the land owner. If your site was selected the option agreement would run for 24 months. All the costs associated with assessing the feasibility of the site including the site survey, wind data collection, environmental impact analysis, obtaining planning permission, and grid connection etc. would be borne by the generator.
On obtaining consent the generator would lease the land on a long term basis and undertake the construction, installation and commissioning of the turbine. All the costs associated with this investment will be borne solely by the generator.
If the necessary consents were not obtained the agreement would terminate and the generator will remove any wind monitoring data equipment from the site.
The land owner will have the security of receiving an annual rent under the long term lease agreement. The rent will be reviewed, upwards only, at five year intervals. The then landlord will incur no annual rates costs. In most cases the footprint of the turbine (s) would not have a significant effect on grazing or other uses to which the land in the vicinity of the facility is put.
This arrangement will significantly increase the return generated from your land if selected and accepted by the generator.
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