Step aside renewable power projects, there’s a new big boss in town, the Warrington solar project. It is the latest project to be put on the sustainability pedestal, being hailed as UK’s most advanced yet. This major new solar project was developed for Warrington Borough Council and it incorporates several UK-first technologies, hence the praise.
It was built in partnership with Gridserve across two sites at York and Hull. It cost them £62.34 million (US$81.28 million) to make. Once complete, it will produce enough green electricity to power around 18,000 homes (or 30,000 electric vehicles) and reduce carbon emissions by 25,000 metric tons a year. They will be the two largest solar farms built in Great Britain since 2016 say the developers.
“Councils have a major role to play in helping to meet carbon emission reduction targets. These two sites are a working model that we hope other local authorities will follow.” – Russ Bowden
York And Hull
Work will first begin at the York site – 198 acres of low-grade agricultural land at Boscar Grange, near Easingwold. That sector of the project will consist of a 34.7MWp hybrid solar farm plus a 27MW battery storage system, the largest at any UK solar facility. Initially, electricity from the York farm will be sold on the open market. This facility is expected to be operational by October 2019.
Then they will begin working on the next phase of the project, a 25.7MWp solar farm at the Hull site – 131 acres of low-grade agricultural land near Bilton. That farm will supply Warrington Borough Council itself with 100 percent green electricity and will cut its bills by up to £2m a year, boosting the local economy. There are also plans for battery storage at the Hull site.
Cllr Russ Bowden, leader of Warrington Borough Council, said:
“This deal is good news for Warrington residents and good news for the environment. The solar farms will secure our energy supply, give us control over our energy prices, contribute to reducing fuel poverty and generate an estimated operating surplus of £150m over 30 years that can be invested back into the most important frontline services.”
UK-First Technologies
- The solar farms are equipped with bifacial solar panels – they can generate energy from both sides. These special panels will boost power generation by 20%. According to Gridserve, these farms are the first in the UK to use such panels.
- They will also be the first large-scale UK projects that will use trackers to follow the sun. The trackers will maximize generation and mitigate price volatility over the course of the day.
- In addition, the company plans to have both sites connected to ‘Electric Forecourts’. These will be amongst the first in a nationwide network GRIDSERVE are developing. They will offer supercharging for up to 24 electric vehicles simultaneously. The company hopes to support the growth of renewables and electric vehicles with these (and soon other) Electric Forecourts.
Leading The Way
Toddington Harper, founder, and CEO of Gridserve said:
“Warrington is leading the way in showing councils how solar and battery storage can help generate sustainable income to deliver vital public services, meet climate targets with clean energy, and support a low-carbon economy.
These will be the most advanced solar farms in the UK – and quite possibly the world – ushering in a new era of subsidy-free, truly sustainable energy. We’ve completely rethought the solar model, looking in detail at how to maximise value at every step, and these projects will also pioneer the use of cutting-edge technologies that serve the grid.”
