Fresh produce supplier and grower group Worldwide Farming Partnership (WFP) has diversified into straw production with a new 12-year contract to supply fuel company BWSC Northern Fuels Ltd (BNFL).
WFP, which is a subsidiary of Moorhouse & Mohan, will supply 30,000 tonnes of straw this year, and 50,000t for the remaining 11 years.
The straw will power Brigg Renewable Energy Plant, set to open in December 2015 in north Lincolnshire, which will produce enough energy to power 75,000 homes and save over 250,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Using this first deal as an example, other local farming and growing businesses are being encouraged to get involved in supplying the plant and selling straw crops for energy production.
“The connection between our famers and renewable energy is an obvious one and we are proud to have enabled this relationship to flourish,” said WFP managing director, Kevin Shippey. “We hope this will also provide opportunities for other farmers to benefit from this agreement and would encourage anyone interested to contact us straight away.”
Colin Jones, from BNFL, said: “This is a really exciting step forward in the development of our renewable energy power plant, securing a fifth of the straw we need over the next 12 years at this early stage in our development.
“We are pleased to be working with an organisation that prides itself on creating long term, effective partnerships which allow the whole supply chain to work fairly and effectively together. We’re confident that this is just the beginning of our relationship with WFP and are pleased to bring these economic benefits to the farming community.”
