A VALE of Clwyd-based renewable energy company have seen enquiries from businesses soar across North Wales and Merseyside.

The award-winning Hafod Renewables, which installs a range of bespoke green energy systems across North and Mid Wales and the border counties, have been inundated with calls.

Many businesses have been alarmed at reports of 50 per cent increases in charges which could add up to thousands of pounds in extra costs, as fossil fuel generated power prices have rocketed – with further increases predicted for later in the year.

Hafod Managing Director David Jones, whose firm are based in Tremeirchion, near St Asaph, said: “These increased charges are going to hit everyone including homeowners but at least there is a cap on domestic charges even though it’s going to go up.

“For businesses there’s no cap so they are going to be subject to the full force of these price increases and that could mean charges going up by hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

“What can work for them though is that they have large premises with big roof areas which makes them particularly suitable for solar power and the potential savings are so great payback times are being cut to as little as four years.

“I think many businesses have been concerned that switching to solar would mean a lengthy shutdown while a new energy system is fitted but that’s just not the case.

“We’ve fitted solar systems in bakeries and on dairy farms and the bread has still been baked and the cows have still been milked so it is a seamless transition, just a flick of a switch.”

Meanwhile the Federation of Small Businesses has warned that its members are expected to feel the brunt of crippling energy costs in the coming weeks as firms begin to strike new fixed-term deals amid record high energy market prices.

A total of 40 energy suppliers went bust last year due to spiralling wholesale gas costs.

Domestic customers may be insulated from the worst effects of the increased charges by the price cap but they still face much bigger bills.

Hafod Renewables have also seen a spike in orders from homeowners in North Wales and Merseyside, the region with the highest electricity prices in the country at £810 annually, £100 a year more than in Northern Ireland and £65 more than in the neighbouring North West.

The company were founded in 2010, have carried out 200 installations in the last 12 months with solar power and battery systems currently attracting the most interest.

Having been name named as Wales’s top renewable energy installer at the Energy Efficiency Awards on three occasions, Hafod have also been approved by Tesla, one of the biggest names in green technology, to supply and fit their Powerwall wall-mounted batteries which are available from £3,000.

The batteries which are approximately five feet high, three feet wide and just eight inches deep, weigh just over 200 pounds and can be fitted to an exterior wall and linked to roof-mounted solar panels.

Mr Jones said: “For a homeowner being able to use the electricity generated by solar panels later in the evening can mean massive savings.”

Hafod Renewables now employ 14 staff members, and moved to larger premises at Tremeirchion from Denbigh two years ago, also opening a depot in Porthmadog for their Gwynedd-based team.

The company’s new headquarters are entirely powered by renewable energy, with solar panels, air-source systems, and electrical-charging points for vehicles maintaining a zero-carbon footprint.

For more on Hafod Renewables go to https://www.hafodrenewables.co.uk/.