Usually, potential renewable energy projects arise when a Developer has identified a potential energy project to be located on certain area of land. Whilst this type of approach is potentially valuable to the landowner, inevitably it means the landowner has to react in a TACTICAL way:
- Negotiating Heads of Terms on a single project basis.
- Trying to understand the scale of the development.
- How the proposal affects the land and continued use for agriculture or forestry operations.
- How does the proposal affect the wider landholding?
- Is this a developer I really want to partner with?
We offer landowners a STRATEGIC way to look at their landholding with respect to potential renewable energy development.
We review your entire landholding using our advanced GIS software and identify the areas of greatest potential for renewable energy projects that fit with your aims for using the land. We advise on the most suitable renewable energy technologies to deploy and we understand the project value – from a developer perspective.
We work with you to realise those potential opportunities by leading the process of involving a development partner that best fits with YOUR success criteria.
Our Approach: Classic Poacher turned Gamekeeper
FGE works with landowners to review their land portfolio to identify opportunities to host renewable energy developments, including Onshore Wind Farms, Solar or Battery Energy Storage Systems.
The process starts with the landowner providing shapefiles or boundary maps of their landholding. Using our advanced GIS software, we identify the best areas for potential renewables opportunities. We carry out in-depth desktop analysis to filter out potential “red flag” constraints, such as environmental designations, that could derail a renewable development.
Once suitable land areas have been identified, we carry out a maximum design to establish the potential scale of a renewable development.
We then overlay site specific factors that affect the value of a potential development from a developer perspective. For wind energy, we take into account site specific conditions such as topography, wind speeds, mitigation costs and grid availability to model the commercial basis for a potential wind farm. We do the same for potential solar developments understanding the site constraints and likely irradiance values. For Battery Energy Storage System opportunities we primarily review co-location with Wind or Solar Developments or for standalone systems proximity and availability of the grid connection. These fundamental commercial factors allow us to model the potential value of the opportunity to developers.
It is only after modelling the potential commercial value of the prospective development that we can hone the negotiation with a potential developer.
Our approach is unique because it is specific to the commercial reality surrounding each project opportunity because we intimately understand the developer’s position, ensuring the landowner’s interests are protected. By understanding the scale of the potential renewable opportunity we maximise the value of the proposed development to the landowner through negotiating Heads of Terms on their behalf with the developer, that are at the top of the market and optimised to match the overall opportunity.
We can identify and engage with developers that are right for each specific renewable development opportunity, acting on behalf of the landowner to maximise their value and minimise their risk. We ensure that the Developer undertakes to pay all of the landowner’s legal and professional fees, indemnifying them against any transactional costs to bring the opportunity forward.
FGE Professional Fees
We believe that we offer great value relative to our fee scales. In situations where a developer is already engaged or where the purpose of our involvement is to engage a developer, we ensure that the developer underwrites our fees taking all liability away from the landowner. In situations where a developer is not to be engaged the landowner would be responsible for our fees, and we are happy to agree these in advance of being instructed.
We are flexible in our approach to fees, so please come and talk to us!