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A solar park has started providing power to buildings in the City of London's financial centre - more than 100 miles away.
Renewable firm Voltalia's solar farm near Spetisbury, Dorset, is being used to power various sites. But the Campaign for Rural England (CPRE) said the land should be used to "provide food for Dorset rather than powering bankers' offices". Voltalia said it was "proud" to be supplying "clean and cheap" energy. The £40m contract between the City Corporation and the South Farm Solar Park will last for 15 years. The 49.9MW generated - enough to power 15,000 homes - will be supplied to Guildhall, Tower Bridge, three markets and the Barbican Arts Centre. After approval by Dorset Council, the project was extended in 2021 to two additional fields. A council report at the time read: "There is a necessity for renewable energy development and with vast swathes of Dorset within designated or valued landscapes, there are few opportunities to site solar farm developments appropriately." But the scheme has faced a backlash from locals and the CPRE, which is also opposing two other nearby projects at North Dairy Farm and Hardy's Vale. Rupert Hardy, chairman of North Dorset CPRE, said: "At a time of concern over food security, land should be used to provide food for Dorset rather than powering bankers' offices in the City of London." He added the project was also "desecrating our beautiful landscape". Voltalia said it had invested more than £800,000 within 25 miles of South Farm Solar Park and more than £3m in the wider region. CEO Sébastien Clerc said: "In the current energy crisis, we are very proud to supply clean and cheap electricity to some of London's most iconic landmarks." Chairman of the City Corporation's environment committee, Keith Bottomley, said: "The deal will increase our green energy supply, has no reliance on taxpayer funding, and helps us transition quickly away from fossil fuels."
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Wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK.
In the first three months of this year a third of the country's electricity came from wind farms, research from Imperial College London has shown. National Grid has also confirmed that April saw a record period of solar energy generation. By 2035 the UK aims for all of its electricity to have net zero emissions. The majority of the UK's wind power has come from offshore wind farms. Installing new onshore wind turbines has effectively been banned since 2015 in England. Under current planning rules, companies can only apply to build onshore wind turbines on land specifically identified for development in the land-use plans drawn up by local councils. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed in December to relax these planning restrictions to speed up development. Scientists say switching to renewable power is crucial to curb the impacts of climate change, which are already being felt, including in the UK, which last year recorded its hottest year since records began. Solar and wind have seen significant growth in the UK. In the first quarter of 2023, 42% of the UK's electricity came from renewable energy, with 33% coming from fossil fuels like gas and coal. But BBC research revealed on Thursday that billions of pounds' worth of green energy projects are stuck on hold due to delays with getting connections to the grid. Some new solar and wind sites are waiting up to 10 to 15 years to be connected because of a lack of capacity in the electricity system. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65500339) And electricity only accounts for 18% of the UK's total power needs. There are many demands for energy which electricity is not meeting, such as heating our homes, manufacturing and transport. Currently the majority of UK homes use gas for their heating - the government is seeking to move households away from gas boilers and on to heat pumps which use electricity. The green hydrogen project will produce 120,000kg of the clean energy carrier per year. Image: Ethical Power.
The 5MW Whites Pit solar farm in Wimborne, Dorset, has been commissioned by renewable energy Ethical Power to provide power to the Dorset Green Hydrogen project. The solar project has been commissioned on behalf of Canford Renewable Energy, an operator and developer of energy infrastructure, to power its first green hydrogen project – a 0.9MW electrolyser. Whites Pit solar farm consists of 12,430 solar modules that have been installed across a 26-acre landfill site. This had been energised in October 2022. The green energy produced via the solar farm will provide green energy to the electrolyser throughout its design lifetime of 30 years. The green hydrogen produced at the site, which could reach up to 120,000kg per year, will be compressed, stored and sold for local and regional use as a carbon free fuel. This will help decarbonise large vehicle fleets in Dorset. Ethical Power was the EPC contractor for the Whites Pit solar park built on a closed former landfill owned by Canford Renewable Energy. The scope of works by Ethical Power Group companies also included development consultancy and due diligence, civils and reinstatement works and technical due diligence throughout the construction phase. Kingston Lacy is opulent, spectacular and astonishing, and it has fuel bills to match. Heating the mansion uses around 30,000 litres of oil a year, which releases about 80 tonnes of carbon annually. We are installing a 160kW ground source heat pump system to replace the existing oil boilers heating the mansion.
It’s a big project that will have big environmental benefits, cutting emissions to around a quarter of their current levels. But it will help us in our conservation work as well. Using a green energy source means we will be able to heat the mansion at a low temperature for longer periods. This will improve the internal environment and humidity control of the collections, and help us secure this beautiful place for the future. This project has been part funded by Low Carbon Dorset as part of the European Regional Development Fund. A 16 hectare (39.5 acre) solar farm is being proposed for a site close to an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The 49 megawatt site at Horton near Wimborne, Dorset could supply electricity for the next 40 years. The North Farm plan is yet to be formally submitted, but Dorset Council says three already exist in the area. As of March 2022, the council was in the top 15% of over 400 UK local authority areas for renewable electricity generation. Woodlands Mannington Solar Ltd has been told by the government the farm would likely have "significant environmental effects" on the nearby Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). 'Changes the character'The company claims this can be mitigated by adequate screening, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). The site is on mixed farmland between the Remedy Oak golf course and Horton Road. The area also has several Sites of Special Scientific Interest and listed or historic properties in the vicinity, LDRS reported. A series of public footpaths cross the proposed site and pass alongside it. The council's AONB team expressed concerns about the principle of such a large scale development. In a statement it said: "The special characteristics of the AONB, such as tranquillity, remoteness and the undeveloped rural character, may be compromised by the presence of a large scale development which is not considered typical of a countryside location." Dorset Council said it had a "strong track record" in securing well planned schemes for renewable electricity generation in "often sensitive locations". It added: "This has aided an increase of 250% in renewable energy generation between 2014 and 2020." In 2020, Dorset generated enough electricity to supply over 110,000 average sized households for a year, the council's website claims. |
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