John Griffiths, who runs the farm with his wife Llinos, said the wind turbine will make a ‘significant’ contribution to the income of the farm, which is based at Y Bwthyn.
John worked with HSBC agricultural manager Sarah Williams, based at the Lammas Street branch in Carmarthen, to secure the finance to fund the project.
HSBC reports a strong increase in interest in renewable energy from the Welsh farming community in recent months. HSBC’s Agriculture Team in Wales provided more than £5 million for its farming customers during the first half of the year to fund wind turbines, hydro schemes and solar energy projects, with a further £1.8 million approved.
John Griffiths said: “We were looking at ways of boosting the farm’s income, diversifying the business and helping us reduce costs, so the wind turbine was the natural conclusion. We are pleased so far with how it has gone although it will take a few months before we start to see any benefit from the feed-in tariff. We have been pleased with HSBC’s proactive approach on this project; our relationship manager was keen to help and interested from day one.”
Euryn Jones, HSBC’s Regional Agriculture Manager for Wales, added: “The Griffiths family are typical of the many customers we are helping with this kind of project at present. At HSBC we believe that renewable energy projects will have an increasingly important part to play in the future success of Welsh farming. We have a proven track record in financing such projects and look forward to supporting many more farming customers in future.”