Renewable energy | ForFarmers Group

Renewable energy

We are using renewable energy in more and more ways to meet the energy needs of our plants. In 2019, we already commissioned a biomass power plant in Lochem that runs entirely on local wood waste from the Achterhoek region. A total of almost three thousand solar panels were installed on various production site buildings and at the head office in Lochem in 2021. And in the course of 2022, the production site in Deventer will be supplied with biogas generated by customers on their own farms. In addition to these initiatives, ForFarmers will continue to look for ways to utilise renewable energy and thus work towards energy-neutral feed production.

Biomass power plant in Lochem

A biomass power plant was commissioned at the Lochem production site in 2019. It will meet almost all of the Lochem plant's energy needs for steam production, used to press feed into pellets. We save around 1.7 million m³ of natural gas annually thanks to the biomass power plant. It was an absolute precondition for us that the biomass power plant runs entirely on local wood waste from the Achterhoek region. The wood waste is supplied by the cooperative Coöperatie Streekhout Achterhoek.

Biogas from dairy customers in Deventer

In December 2021, the shovel went into the ground in the meadow of one of our customers in Oxe. In this hamlet near Deventer, five dairy farmers are working on a gas pipeline. This gas pipeline will supply our factory in Deventer with biogas that is generated on their own farm with manure from their own farm. We will use this biogas to heat the steam boiler. The steam thus produced is needed to press the pellets. At the moment, we still use natural gas for this purpose. Biogas is a good and sustainable - even circular - alternative. It contributes concretely to our goals of making our production more sustainable by using renewable energy.

Christian Muilerman, one of the five dairy farmers, talks about the initiative and how farmers can play a role in the energy transition in this video report.

Solar panels on ForFarmers buildings in Lochem

With the installation of 2,914 solar panels in 2021, ForFarmers took the next step towards energy-neutral feed production, one of the objectives of its sustainability strategy Going Circular. The solar panels are mounted on the roofs of the fertiliser warehouse, the dispatch warehouse and the head office in Lochem. All solar panels together are expected to generate 805 MWh per year. To give you an idea: this is enough to provide about 230 households with electricity for a whole year.