Meet Pete, farmer, festival host and renewable generator
Meet our wind generator Pete, who has been generating renewable power on his farm for the past seven years.
Pete has lived and worked on Trebelsue farm all his life. He’s a third generation farmer, with his grandparents moving to the 11,000 acre farm on the peninsular of Newquay back in 1932. But things were a lot simpler back then. These days, Pete has a lot more than just farming to think about.
Generating wind power
Pete uses the renewable electricity from his wind turbines to power the farm and sells the remainder to Bristol Energy, helping us power our customer’s homes with renewable electricity. Generating renewable power is just one way farmers are diversifying to create more income streams.
We’re a mixed farm, working with livestock and arable. But in recent years we’ve expanded into other areas, all of which operate from the farm. We generate and sell renewable energy via two wind turbines, run a plant hire business, and on top of that, we host Boardmasters festival which hosts 50,000 people a year.
Pete’s businesses all feed into one another, helping him keep control of operations. His wind turbines power his farm sustainably and his plant hire business provides all the equipment for the set-up of Boardmasters.
Boardmasters has become a large part of our business. We never expected to be running a festival from the farm. My dad was originally approached about it; two suited and booted guys from London turned up and asked if we had room to host the festival. My dad took a gamble, and luckily, it all worked out for the best. We’ve now been hosting the festival since 2005.
Although Boardmasters was cancelled this year due to high winds, Pete still had things to smile about, as it meant his wind turbines were generating a lot of power at the time.
Everyone knows fossil fuels are coming to an end and that renewables are the way forward. Cornwall has been fantastic for wind power, I expect our county is one of the biggest generators of wind power in the UK.
It’s great that we can help Bristol Energy customers power their homes with renewable energy too. More people are realising that this is the easiest and quickest way to do their bit for the planet.
Great spaces to generate
Farmers often have the space and conditions to host different generators such as wind, solar and anaerobic digestion on site. For farmers looking for different ways to generate income, renewable generators can often be a great investment. They are reliable and are helping the UK reduce its carbon emissions dramatically.
Pete’s diversification of his farm has been a real success story. It has even won him the title of Cornwall Commercial Farmer of the Year in 2019. We look forward to seeing what he has in store for the future, as clearly, he’s someone who likes to keep busy!
We’re proud to support local businesses like this one. Supporting renewable energy projects big and small, helps us pass on 100% green electricity to our customers.