The Solar Capital Investment scheme (SCIS) is one of the measures in the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), which provides support to farmers wishing to invest in renewable energy, thereby reducing their dependence on fossil fuels.
The number of applications and the level of funding provided to date under the Solar Capital Investment Scheme have well exceeded expectations, to the extent that more than 20% of the total TAMS budget is being spent on the SCIS alone.
On that basis, I decided, in the context of approving applications received in Tranche 9 of TAMS, to focus on approvals for core on-farm investments such as nutrient storage and farm safety, acknowledging the huge importance of continued investment in these measures.
The Ranking and Selection system under the Solar Capital Investment Scheme applies marks across a range of criteria, including the age of the applicant, the size of the holding, land in Area of Natural Constraints (ANC) and Nitrates status.
A negative mark does not apply for any type of farming enterprise in the scoring criteria for SCIS. Under the Nitrates criteria, a score of + 0.01 marks per Kg of nitrates per hectare is awarded, with a maximum of 1.7 marks available.
The SCIS is open to farmers of all enterprise types - of the 3,149 approvals issued to date, 55% of approvals have issued to dairy farmers. I will continue to review the system on a regular basis.
