Frank Visser: On the road to energy-neutral farming

When I arrive at Frank Vissers' farm in Meerlo, I can see it immediately: they are working with solar energy here. The roof of the pigsty is covered from front to back with solar panels. But there is more going on than that. Vissers looks further afield when it comes to energy and also helps entrepreneurs in his role at Vereniging Innovatief Platteland (VIP). We talk about investing and recouping, about innovative techniques and about staying down to earth.

Pioneering

Vissers has been a pig farmer for almost 30 years and at every moment of investment looked at the possibilities for energy saving and energy recovery. He is one of the first farmers in Limburg to get serious about renewable energy. "I was chairman of a study club for farmers and then I delved more deeply into the whole topic of energy. We visited the factory of Scheuten in Venlo, a specialist in insulation glass, and saw that a lot is possible not only in energy generation but also in energy savings. I myself started some 10 years ago with solar panels on part of the roof, good for 120 kiloWatt peak. That was a large investment, but thanks to a subsidy scheme it was interesting. In 2013 I had a second batch of solar panels installed, along with a heat pump. With a collective of poultry farmers we could guarantee the installation company a certain volume and thus also negotiate a good price for the solar panels. That joint purchase really helped make this investment possible. The panels are now producing around 250 kWp, which is enough for our daytime needs. At night and on less sunny days I still need electricity. The heat pump requires 30 percent electricity compared to 100 percent gas volume, so I need more than 60 percent less gas than before. Thus I am now almost energy-neutral."

"Joint purchasing made the investment profitable"

Cooperation

Vissers emphasizes with his story that collaboration is important in energy issues. "There are more and more initiatives that you can join as an entrepreneur. Personally, I also find it interesting if we can make the connection with citizens. For example, using industrial buildings for solar energy is much more logical and efficient than installing solar panels on individual homes. It also looks better. With the VIP we looked into the possibilities of participating in the Postcode Roos scheme, but in many cases it turned out to be insufficiently profitable."
A Postcode Roos is a defined area within which a local energy cooperative or producer entitles its participants to an energy tax refund. The area is determined by the zip code where the production facility is located. This 4-digit area forms the heart of the rose and all zip code areas adjacent to this heart can participate. Zip code Rose offers 15 years of energy tax exemption on the solar or wind energy that the participants in a project collectively generate. This means that solar panels no longer need to be installed on their own homes or business premises, but can also be installed elsewhere. For example, on stables and business premises in the outlying area. VIP is currently exploring new possibilities for participation in Postcode Roos.

Goers in innovation

Vissers stimulates and initiates sustainable energy projects within the board of VIP. "We take stock of all the possibilities and schemes that are out there and see where our members' interests lie. Then we help them on their way by putting them in contact with parties. We encourage entrepreneurs to look not only at their own business, but also at how you can improve together. We have organized meetings about projects with solar panels, which often offer opportunities in the livestock sector. But also about wind energy, setting up an energy cooperative and biogas installations on wood combustion, which is interesting for horticulturalists. As an association we mainly want to initiate and facilitate, we leave the implementation to other parties. And no, of course not everything succeeds. To use the Dutch gas network you need high-calorific gas, while biogas is low-calorific. We once came into contact with a party that had developed a device for converting low-calorific gas into high-calorific gas. We then put that party in touch with other players, because we saw the potential. In the end it didn't work out because the regulations and the complexity of gas transport were too great an obstacle. But that's part of the game, you have to keep thinking in terms of opportunities!"

Profitable or not, that is the question

Vissers may be an optimist, but he is also down-to-earth. "An entrepreneur has nothing to do with fancy talk, there must be a profit. Certainty is needed about the payback period. That is why it is important to be well informed, to ask for help in finding the right partners and to make a good calculation for one's own specific situation."
Because the investments involved are large, the choice is not made lightly. "Imagine, you have 10 boilers and 2 of them break down. Then it is not profitable to install a heat pump if the other 8 have not yet been written off. Every farmer is used to looking further ahead and knows when it's time to renew the stables and systems. When that insight comes, it is important to explore all the possibilities, and that takes time. Regulations, subsidies, technology, partnerships: there is a lot involved. That's why we help entrepreneurs, with information, matching parties and locations, jointly measuring results and with calculation examples."

"There's a lot involved, so immerse yourself in the subject matter."

Wait or take action

Vissers notes that the frontrunners have already invested, and that the middle group is still somewhat cautious. "We are talking about a payback period of 8 to 15 years and that is exciting, of course. But entrepreneurs with future ambitions can really look seriously at renewable energy, as the many calculations we have made show. It is important to clarify for yourself what your current energy consumption is, what is needed in terms of new purchases or replacements, and to use this to make the sum. We are happy to support you in this."
For the future, Vissers sees opportunities in wind energy and hydrogen. "There will be improved versions of wind turbines and there are smaller turbines for which you will be able to find locations more quickly. Hydrogen is also promising, because you can continue to use the existing gas and electricity networks for this. But that's too early now for individual entrepreneurs to consider, for that some large parties will have to switch to these energy sources."

"Let's look at the big picture!"

Also, Vissers insists on a total vision: "Let's look at the big picture. Food production not only costs energy, it is a major source of energy! The cycle is becoming more and more efficient and we don't need to gain what we don't use. Stables are often built so efficiently that the energy requirement is drastically reduced. And if we look even more across sectors, I am convinced that we can make even more steps."

More information

More information about Vereniging Innovatief Platteland:
www.innovatiefplatteland.nl
contact@innovatiefplatteland.nl

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