- Category
- NI specialist land-based
- Location
- Greenmount
- DNO
- NIE Networks
- Est. PV capacity
- 1.5-2 MW
About CAFRE (College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise)
NI's equivalent of Hartpury/Reaseheath/SRUC. Operates as a Northern Ireland Executive agency under DAERA rather than a typical FE corporation. Strong existing renewables track record (Greenmount has anaerobic digestion).
The estate at CAFRE
3-campus specialist land-based provision. Greenmount: 240-hectare dairy farm + agricultural workshops + halls of residence. Loughry: food technology and food enterprise specialist. Enniskillen: equine specialist + animal management + countryside management.
From a solar PV perspective this delivers 1.5-2 MW across the 3 specialist campuses + ground-mount potential. With 280 kW of daytime baseload typical, self-consumption stays around 80% — strong for the sector. The DNO for CAFRE is NIE Networks.
Curriculum integration
Foundation Degrees in Agriculture, Food, Equine, Countryside Management. Greenmount dairy provides live operational data for sustainability and agri-tech research.
Funding stack for CAFRE
DfE NI capital + DAERA Climate Programme + cross-border decarbonisation funding + UK-wide SEG. Different governance to typical FE so funding routes differ from English/Welsh colleges. Estimated portfolio capex £1.3m-£1.7m.
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 1750 kW programme at CAFRE, modelled economics assuming standard portfolio-scale unit cost (£800/kW installed at this scale):
- Capital cost: approximately £1,400,000
- Annual generation: approximately 2,141,300 kWh
- Annual energy savings: approximately £462,520 (at typical FE blended tariff)
- Salix-funded payback: approximately 3.0 years
- 25-year nominal benefit: approximately £10,163,000
These are scoping figures — a precise feasibility report requires 12 months of CAFRE's half-hourly meter data. See our interactive payback calculator to adjust the assumptions for your specific scenario.