Independent renewable energy producers are generating enough power to put pressure on the Big 6 energy companies to lower their prices, according to a new study.

Farmers and businesses in Kent with solar panels on their land or commercial property produced enough juice to serve 179,000 homes last year, claimed SmartestEnergy, a supplier of renewable energy to businesses.

The county has seen £70 million invested in 108 projects, with its 351 megawatts of capacity putting it ninth in the UK for independent renewable production.

Robert Groves, chief executive of SmartestEnergy, which buys 13% of the independent renewable energy made in Britain, claimed these “energy entrepreneurs” are more able than the Big 6 suppliers to adapt to Britain’s growing solar, wind and hydro power needs because they are “small, nimble and innovative”.

Last year energy entrepreneurs outside the traditional electricity supply sector invested more than £376 million in more than 1,000 commercial-scale projects, adding 2.4 gigawatts of new renewable capacity across the UK.

"Energy entrepreneurs are small, nimble and innovative..." - Robert Groves, SmartestEnergy

Nationally, they supply 7.6% of the UK’s energy needs, providing £1 billion of clean electricity.

In Kent, they supplied 3% of the nation’s renewable generation, investing in 20 new projects in 2015, which produced 88 megawatts.

Among them is 62.5 acre Paddock Wood Solar Farm, which connected to the National Grid in March last year and generates enough electricity to power over 2,800 houses.

This is sold to a power purchaser, while the site receives a guaranteed 20-year subsidy offered by the Government under its Renewable Obligation scheme.

SmartestEnergy chief executive Robert Groves said: “The Big 6 are suffering in this low-carbon transition – share prices and dividends are falling, companies are laying off staff and some are even breaking themselves up.

“These incumbents are slow moving, beset by problems, and lack funds for investment.

“By contrast, the energy entrepreneurs are small, nimble and innovative. They have attracted a global pool of capital to invest in Britain’s renewable capacity and are taking advantage of technologies like wind and solar which are rapidly coming down the cost curve.”

He added: “The government needs to restore confidence to the industry by providing stable policy and certainty over future subsidies available to the industry.”