Shropshire's Belton Farm forges partnership to power sustainable cheese production

Conrad Energy, which generates, buys, sells and manages energy, has announced the signing of a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Belton Farm, based in Whitchurch.

Conrad Energy will develop, fund, build, own, maintain and operate a 1.5 MWp ground mount solar facility which aims to reduce Belton Farm’s carbon emissions by 552 tonnes of CO2 next year.

Through three generations of one family, spanning over a hundred years, Belton Farm has been creating cheeses using locally sourced ingredients.

The farm was one of the first cheesemakers to run a carbon footprint programme both at a business level and with their local farmers and between 2009 and 2021, saw a 48 per cent reduction in total emissions, despite cheese production increasing year on year.

Having initially approached Conrad Energy to secure their green energy supply, discussions about Belton Farm’s efficiency and optimisation of their existing assets led to the design of a bespoke multi-solution energy package to meet the specific requirements of this award-winning cheesemaker.

Instead of a standard green energy product, which traditionally matches annual demand with the equivalent number of REGO certificates, Belton Farm are one of the first companies to benefit from Conrad Energy’s new Match+ product. This provides 100 per cent half-hourly matched green energy

Conrad Energy says its customer portal, iON+ Connect has the ability to show the source of the matched energy in any given period.

This will provide Belton Farm with the 'highest possible level of transparency and reassurance that their demand is being accurately matched against green supply'.

Belton Farm fitted 135 kW roof top arrays in three phases since 2011, which has been generating more than 130,530 kWh of electricity and offsetting 28 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

In April, planning permission was granted for an additional on-site ground mount solar PV scheme which will be developed by Conrad Energy.

The Shropshire planning committee agreed that “the proposal would provide significant environmental benefits through the generation of renewable energy for this local business.” The new scheme will generate an additional 1.5 MW, and offset around 12,992 tonnes of carbon, moving Belton Farm closer to their goal of being carbon neutral by 2040.

Justin Beckett, Managing Director of Belton Farm, said: “Conrad Energy have worked closely with us to identify the best way of meeting our cost and sustainability objectives.

"Their Match+ green product gives us market-leading transparency on where our green energy is coming from. In addition, the new, solar scheme will be funded by Conrad Energy under a long-term PPA, allowing us to focus on what we do best - making award-winning cheese.”

Steven Hardman, Conrad Energy’s CEO, added: “It’s always a pleasure to work with businesses who share our vision for the energy landscape.

"As a business with a long history, Belton Farm are happy to make decisions for the long-term, and we are delighted to be part of their team of trusted advisors moving forward.”