Last year’s introduction of the feed-in tariff, coupled with ever-rising electricity prices, mean that the payback period for small scale renewable energy devices has decreased. With its mission to make such technologies both easy to understand and affordable to install, Ayrshire-based VG Energy is building a reputation for making green investment a viable reality.

VG Energy bases its success on an open and honest approach, providing customers with realistic estimates of energy savings and payback periods for a variety of renewable energy technologies. The range of advice covers each stage of the installation process, starting with an initial discussion and site survey, followed by advice on available grants and support during the process of obtaining any necessary planning permission.

Once permissions have been granted, VG Energy will supply and install all equipment and materials, and provide final inspection and commissioning, as well as ongoing maintenance and guarantees for all of products.

This broad service offering was established in response to market demand, as witnessed first hand by company co-founder Jim Paterson. A farmer, he was left disappointed by the service available when he investigated the potential merit of a wind turbine for his land, and set up VG Energy with fellow farmer Stephen Hamilton.

“I could see the value of investing in renewable energy technology,” explained Paterson, “but I saw a gap in the market for a distributor that offered real depth of knowledge on the subject and that maintained a proper stock of spare parts. In that respect our business model is not unlike that of an agricultural supplies dealership: we have well chosen products, the knowledge to back them up, and a healthy stock.”

As farming industry insiders, Paterson and Hamilton established VG Energy initially as a specialist supplier of wind turbines to the agricultural market. However, the company’s reach has since extended to other markets, such as industrial, local authority and domestic clients, and to other technologies. The product range - which is continually under review - now includes solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and multi-fuel stoves.

Ranging from 6kW to 850 kW, wind turbines remain the staple of VG Energy. Said Paterson: “We have diversified into other products, and these can be extremely useful particularly where wind turbines are not appropriate, but at the end of the day the best return on investment is with the turbines.”

This is of crucial importance. While the green agenda is a motivating factor, for the majority economic factors take precedence and by researching the best turbines on the market VG Energy can offer impressive payback periods for its customers. The award-winning range of wind turbines manufactured by Proven Energy are popular sellers, for example, and a 12.1kW turbines of this type can pay for itself in between three and seven years.

VG Energy’s product portfolio also includes wind turbines by WES and Windflow, as well as the Kingspan solar thermal range and solar PV technologies by CGS, Kyocera and BP. These products have been carefully selected for their affordability and reliability, and most are independently certified or extensively tested in the field.

Said Paterson: “I have spent a great deal of time visiting various manufacturers around the world to ensure that we have the right technology on board, and I am confident that we do. Furthermore, our team has the knowledge and understanding to back up our tech choice: for example, though we don’t manufacture ourselves we employ a design engineer with experience in wind turbine projects. That is a unique selling point for us as a distributor.”

Another essential element of the VG Energy team is the team of 12 focused on the planning permissions process, he added: “Planning permission is the biggest problem for the industry in Scotland at the moment. If Scotland really wants to follow the green agenda we need to be more realistic in our expectations in terms of noise levels, and ensure that relatively small turbines, such as ours, are not simply dealt with under the same broad heading as the very large turbines. The issues are different.

“We also need to understand that if we want a green economy we need to accept that we are going to see wind turbines – turbines which are in fact smaller than the electricity pylons we have come to accept without question. Our biggest market sector by far is farmers, as they are in a rural setting with space to erect turbines, however to date less than 1% of farms here have one installed. In Denmark, for example, they have become just part of the landscape; they have embraced the idea and Scotland needs to do the same.

“The good news for us is that there is a clear market opportunity out there, and we have the products and skills to act on it.”

www.vgenergy.co.uk