In general, data on renewable energy investments in the agriculture sector are limited. This includes not only global investment data, but also local-level data on energy flows across agri-food value chains, as well as granular data on spending for farms and non-farm enterprises. ⁴⁷

For small and medium-sized actors in agri-food chains, affordability is a significant barrier to the uptake of renewables due to the capital-intensive structure of most renewable energy investments and to the seasonality of farmer incomes. ⁴⁸ A variety of programmes provide financing for renewable installations in the agriculture sector. ⁴⁹ In 2022, the impact investment fund Acumen launched the five-year, USD 25 million Powering Livelihoods Using Solar (PEII+) initiative to provide micro-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in India and Africa with solar-powered appliances such as mills and irrigation pumps. ⁵⁰ PEG Africa, a pay-as-you-go operator in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Senegal, also offers financing for solar pumps. ⁵¹ In Romania, the National Rural Development Programme, launched in 2021, offers funding to support biomass fuels and the use of renewables in agricultural processing. ⁵²

In the United Kingdom, programmes that provide dedicated funding for renewables in agriculture include the Renewable Energy Investment Scheme, the Countryside Productivity Scheme, the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Energy Crops Scheme. ⁵³ In the United States, the Renewable Energy for America Program offers renewable energy grants of between USD 2,500 and
USD 1 million, as well as loans to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for investments in renewables. ⁵⁴

Farmers and agricultural suppliers are investing in solar thermal and other renewable energy projects, in part to alleviate the effects of rising fossil fuel prices and supply shocks. ⁵⁵ In Guanajuato, Mexico, a MXN 9.5 million (USD 0.5 million) parabolic trough

solar system began providing steam for food processing in 2021 through an innovative financing model in which the client pays monthly per tonne of steam used, thereby avoiding the upfront cost of the system. ⁵⁶ In Argentina, where fossil gas prices are highly subsidised, multinational corporations motivated by strict CO₂ reduction targets are providing around USD 10 million in financing to support four concentrating solar heat projects, to be used mainly for drying cereals. ⁵⁷

In Europe, solar technologies supply heat to the agricultural production value chain. In 2021, a EUR 6 million (USD 6.4 million) solar heat plant was inaugurated in France to provide renewable heat for the drying of grains to produce malt. ⁵⁸ In Croatia, EUR 7.5 million (USD 8 million) was invested in an industrial solar heat system to pre-heat air used for drying malt, with more than half of the funding coming from the European Commission's Innovation Fund. ⁵⁹ In Spain, solar technology providers offer heat purchase agreements, which the global beer producer Heineken utilised at its site in Seville. ⁶⁰

Investments in agrivoltaics also have increased, building on demonstration projects started in 2004. ⁶¹ In New South Wales, Australia, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation provided AUD 5 million (USD 3.5 million) to finance a 350 megawatt (MW) solar PV park on cattle and sheep grazing land. ⁶²

Investments in geothermal systems have supported diverse applications including greenhouse and soil heating, aquaculture, food drying and milk pasteurisation. ⁶³ In Türkiye, during 2021-2022, USD 10 million was invested in geothermal energy to support a drying facility and soil-less greenhouses in the west, and USD 190,000 was awarded to build geothermal greenhouses in the city of Eskisehir. ⁶⁴