FREP is a small capital grants programme designed to help farmers improve the overall economic performance of their holdings.

The goal is to achieve this through the introduction of new technology to promote energy, manure and water resource efficiency. The funding will assist the purchase of capital equipment to achieve business and environmental benefits, the principle benefit of the technologies must be towards the farming enterprises and not towards domestic use.

The funding will help farmers to buy capital equipment which will benefit both their business and the environment. The following technologies are eligible:

• Renewable power – such as small-scale wind turbines (eg 500w-25Kw) and foundations, and hydro-electric, photovoltaic, grid connections, heat capture and solar panels systems
• Renewable heat – such as heat exchange systems,  biomass boilers; solar-heat and ground-source heat pumps
• Rainwater harvesting/water-recycling systems – including fixed pumps, UV filtration systems, piping, and storage tanks
• Slurry / Silage Store roofs – ONLY where these costs are part of a wider farm rainwater harvesting application
• Manure management –including mechanical slurry separator systems and certain slurry distribution kit
• Technical fees associated with the commissioning of the above systems would also be eligible
  

You could be eligible for up to 50% and 60% of the cost of eligible expenditure. Applications for grant investment should be for a minimum of £1,500 and a maximum of £25,000.

Our guidance notes for the programme give full details of the information required from you, however these are currently being revised. In general you should supply the following along with your application for funding:

• One set of underlying accounts for the business
• Three quotes for the equipment purchased
• Calculations which demonstrate what the results of the investment will be
• Evidence that all necessary planning permissions or consents are in place (please provide copies)
• Confirmation of the private-match funding (if the FREP is providing up to 50%/60%, you will need to tell us where the remainder is coming from)
• Submissions must complete standard calculations demonstrating what the results of the investment will be and the templates for these are included on the application form document.
  

We are pleased to annuonce that round five is now open and we are accepting applications for the Farm Resource Efficiency Programme. Please note that the application deadline for this round is Monday 18th January 2010.

With regard to eligibility applicants must be:

• A farm business with two years of professionally prepared accounts;
• Grant requested must not represent more than 25% of turnover;
• Be claiming Single Farm Payment or a commercial pig, poultry or horticultural unit; and
• For renewable energy, heat and water technologies no more than 40% of energy / water generated must be to meet/offset domestic needs.

There is no longer a scale of grant rates dependent on current levels of energy / water consumption.

The calculations template for renewable energy, heat and water technologies is slightly different to Round 4 to cater for the above changes.

To discuss the Rural Enterprise Investment Programme (REIP) or Farm Resource Efficiency Programme (FREP) please contact:

Vicky Wren / Louise Hardcastle
FREP Project Manager
CO2Sense Ltd
Yorkshire Forward
2 Victoria House
Victoria Place
Leeds LS11 5AE

Tel: 0113 237 8461
Email: vicky.wren@co2sense.co.uk