Moray Council has granted Elgin Energy planning permission for a 20MW project near Urquhart, which could see about 80,000 solar panels installed. The farm will be constructed on the 47-hectare Speyslaw site – the equivalent of about 40 football pitches. The largest Scottish solar farm is currently a 13MW project at Errol Estate in Perthshire, which went live in May last year. Bristol-based Elgin Energy also developed that scheme, which includes 55,000 solar panels capable of generating power for more than 3,500 homes,. Work on the Speyslaw site is expected to start within the next few months. Further progress in the solar sector, however, depends on the level of support provided by the UK government through the Feed-in Tariff and the Contracts for Difference schemes, both of which remain the subject of much uncertainty. Elgin Energy, which has already developed 250MW of solar across 24 projects in the UK and Ireland, is planning an even bigger farm in Moray. It is seeking planning permission for a 50MW project at the former RAF Milltown airfield, a few miles north east of Elgin. A decision on that application is not expected until early next year.
BBC 16th Aug 2017 read more »
A shopping centre in Leeds is now home to the largest solar installation of its kind in the UK, thanks to a partnership between its owners Landsec and clean energy consultancy Syzygy. The two firms teamed up to install 2,900 solar PV panels on the roof of the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds to create the largest solar installation at a retail site in the UK. Unveiled today, the system is expected to meet almost 40 per cent of the shopping centre’s daytime electricity demand in the mall areas. It will also save 250 tonnes of carbon emissions each year for Landsec – the property giant formerly known as Land Securities – the equivalent of more than half a million miles of passenger car emissions.
Business Green 15th Aug 2017 read more »
Last Friday the mayor published his long-awaited environment strategy which included a specific plan to boost the deployment of solar PV in the capital. London has notoriously been somewhat off the pace in its adoption of solar and has been the subject of considerable scrutiny in the past. The solar strategy includes plans to conduct reverse solar auctions for residential installations in London boroughs, new grants for community solar developments and an already-underway tender to install solar on 24 Transport for London-owned buildings. Those measures will allow London to more than double its operational solar capacity to around 200MW by 2030, however Khan said the capital should be able to boast as much as 1GW within that time frame and 2GW by 2050.
Solar Power Portal 15th Aug 2017 read more »
