Huge solar farm proposed near Darlington to help UK meet renewable energy target

-

As we scanned the solar industry news, we were delighted to see exciting new plans revealed that would see the installation of a major new solar farm on a 420,000sq.m site near Darlington.

Darlington Borough Council has been asked for planning guidance with regards to a new solar project on land just east of Aycliffe Village. The proposed solar farm could have an export capacity of up to 31 Megawatts – which would be enough to power in the region of 10,000 average homes!

The Solar Trade Association has welcomed the news, reminding the public that the UK needs to continue to increase its solar generation considerably if it is to meet its 15% renewable energy target by the end of this year, or early next year at the very least. A spokesperson for the STA stated: “Solar creates investment and local green jobs, whilst reducing the reliance on overseas fossil fuel imports.”

A spokesman for the firm running the project added: “The low-lying solar development would sit within the gently rolling landform, broken up by existing lines which comprise a mix of scrub, overgrown hedgerows and pre-existing tree belts. The site is not ecologically sensitive, and the development has the potential to provide beneficial effects to ecology in the short to medium term. The solar farm would be compatible with sheep grazing during the temporary operational phase, maintaining the land’s agricultural use in part.”

There is definite momentum within the solar panels UK scene, with this latest proposal coming just two months after a proposal for a 49.9MW capacity solar project across a 230-acre greenfield site between Darlington and Stockton. These are great additions to Britain’s largest solar farm, complete with 880,000 solar panels and the ability to generate enough clean energy for 91,000 homes, which was given approval in Kent earlier this year.

There is talk within the renewables industry that the UK’s solar power capacity has the potential to increase to 27GW before 2030, with the UK government removing a block which had restricted solar farms and onshore wind projects from competing in subsidy contract auctions.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shropshire hospital adds 1,750 solar panels to its roof

-
It was great to see news recently that a Shropshire hospital, in addition to all it already does to help people, is choosing to add further benefit to their community by sourcing their ongoing power requirements from solar energy. The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital is the hospital in question, and is planning to transform their energy usage through a series of projects, the first of which will be achieved through the installation of 1,760 solar panels across the hospital site. On a summer’s day, the installation will be capable of generating in the region of 2,300kWh of electricity, with more than 99.9% of this energy going directly toward the hospital’s own electricity system, which in addition to reducing the hospital’s carbon footprint, will also reduce day-to-day running costs. This level of generation is roughly equivalent to supplying 280 family homes with 100% of their electricity for an average day’s consumption. The hospital will send the remaining fraction o
Read more

Saudi Arabia set to build 'world's largest' battery storage to power tourist site

-
  We’re always interested to hear about the different ways that nations are making use of solar, from homes, to offices to major industry, but one area we haven’t covered much to date is tourism and hospitality. That’s why it was so interesting to us to hear recently that Saudi Arabia appears to be planning what is claimed to be the world’s largest battery storage site, which they plan to use to power a huge new tourist complex by the Red Sea. The project, which is estimated to take a decade to reach its full completion, is being carried out by The Red Sea Development Company and is going to use an eventual 1GWh-worth of battery storage to ensure that the biggest holiday complex on the planet will be fully powered by renewable energy 24/7. The first phase will include the addition of 210MW in wind and solar generation, with the aim of being in place by 2022 and powering the 12 hotels and an airport that should be up and running by this point.   By the time the project culminates in 203
Read more