- Category
- Specialist land-based
- Location
- Askham Bryan, North Yorkshire
- DNO
- Northern Powergrid (NPg)
- Est. PV capacity
- 1.2-1.5 MW
About Askham Bryan College
North Yorkshire's specialist land-based college. Strong existing renewable energy track record (anaerobic digestion onsite). Recent (2024) major capital investment in new technology centre. Active in Yorkshire Climate Action Plan with peers.
The estate at Askham Bryan
320-hectare estate including dairy unit, beef and sheep, arable, equestrian centre with international arenas, agricultural workshops, motor vehicle and construction trades workshops, halls of residence, animal management unit.
From a solar PV perspective this delivers 1.2-1.5 MW potential across the estate + ground-mount potential on margin land. With 290 kW of daytime baseload typical, self-consumption stays around 78% — strong for the sector. The DNO for Askham Bryan is Northern Powergrid (NPg).
Curriculum integration
BSc Agriculture, BTEC Agriculture/Equine/Animal Management/Floristry, T-Level Agriculture, apprenticeships in agricultural engineering. Live operational data integrates with agritech research.
Funding stack for Askham Bryan
Salix Decarbonisation Loan + PSDS Phase 4 + Yorkshire MCA decarbonisation funding + DEFRA Future Farming Resilience scheme alignment. Estimated portfolio capex £1.1m-£1.4m.
Detailed funding-route deep-dives:
- Salix Decarbonisation Loan — interest-free up to £600k per project
- PSDS Phase 4 capital grant — 100% grant for bundled bids
- FE Capital Transformation Fund — embedded sustainability in major refurb
- MCA decarbonisation grants — devolved regional funding
Estimated economics
For a 1350 kW programme at Askham Bryan, modelled economics assuming standard portfolio-scale unit cost (£800/kW installed at this scale):
- Capital cost: approximately £1,080,000
- Annual generation: approximately 1,751,220 kWh
- Annual energy savings: approximately £372,309 (at typical FE blended tariff)
- Salix-funded payback: approximately 2.9 years
- 25-year nominal benefit: approximately £8,227,725
These are scoping figures — a precise feasibility report requires 12 months of Askham Bryan's half-hourly meter data. See our interactive payback calculator to adjust the assumptions for your specific scenario.