In anticipation of growing demand for woodfuel driven by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) this autumn and the anticipated needs of biomass power stations, the Forestry Commission have launched a new grant for woodfuel production - the Woodfuel and Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG).
The grant funding available will be £10 million over three years and will be directed towards woodland infrastructure and development costs, under the current Rural Development Programme. The WIG is intended to complement the support already available in the form of planting grants for perennial energy crops (e.g. miscanthus and short rotation coppice willow), and farmers and landowners will be eligible for 60% grants towards the cost of developing access tracks for extraction of farm woodland thinnings, and towards the cost of carrying out woodland inventories and harvest management.
The launch of the Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant follows on from the England Woodfuel Implementation Plan, launched earlier this summer by the Forestry Commission, which describes a range of actions being taken to further develop the woodfuel supply chain and achieve the objectives of the 2007 Woodfuel Strategy. The Forestry Commission intends to:
* increase wood supply by bringing more privately-owned woodlands into active management.
* encourage the use of woodfuel in high-quality, efficient wood heat systems.
* help rural based businesses increase their capacity to develop a robust woodfuel industry.
The Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant is additional to other support available under the England Woodland Grant Scheme, but it requires an approved Woodland Management Plan (for which Forestry Commission support is already available in the form of a Woodland Planning Grant).
Ultimately, the NFU would like the see a future policy for the country’s woodlands that encourages the development of commercial markets for their timber and sustainable woodfuel. It needs to also reward the managers of these woodlands for the many services they provide - currently many farm woodlands are over-mature and underutilised. The Forestry Commission see farmers, as well as traditional woodland owners and managers, having an increasing role in the future and the drive towards a low-carbon economy and increasing pressure to find sources of renewable energy could be an opportunity for the industry. The NFU welcomes the launch of the new grant, which complements existing perennial energy crop schemes. However, we note that with market demand for biomass still low, this kind of supply-side support is still all about creating opportunities for the future rather than the present.
No comments have been made.