Ecotricity a green energy company has won planning permission to build a solar park adjacent to one of its wind farms in Lincolnshire, thus becoming the latest player to enter the UK solar power market.
The company has been granted planning permission for the one megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar array by East Lindsey Council. It said it would begin work on the photovoltaic (PV) plant within "a few weeks" making it operational by March 2011. The array which will be two metres high on a 4.7 acre site will make green electricity that will suffice approximately 280 average homes each year for the next 25 years, the company said.
The 'Sun Park’ project marks Ecotricity’s first major foray in the field of solar energy solutions and is being funded through its newly-launched Ecobonds. The solar park will be the first project to be funded by EcoBonds, it is being described as a "hybrid energy park", combining the energy of the wind generated at Fen Farm with the PV array, with one connection to the National Grid.
Founder Dale Vince said the plant was one of many the company planned to build in the UK. "We are planning to do a lot more of these. They make a lot of sense because they don’t have the same planning problems that onshore wind does." Planning permission for the solar array was granted after just two months into the development, he informed.
Vince also said more of these natural source harnessing projects are being planned at other wind farm locations because of the benefits of availability of solar next to wind in the UK. "The two are complementary technologies, for example, in winter when there is less sun there’s typically more wind, and vice versa in the summer," he said.
This makes Ecotricity another entity in the small but burgeoning group of investors in the UK solar market. in April of the Government of UK launched its Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme. This scheme guarantees a set rate for each unit of electricity generated over a fixed term. They offer a fixed rate, with an initial four-year term, paying an annual rate of interest of seven per cent, or 7.5 per cent for Ecotricity customers and are open to UK-based individuals, companies, trusts, charities and other legal entities.
However, the future of ground-mounted solar might face some changes. The Government is concerned that ground-mounted arrays could end up distorting the solar market and has indicated that it could yet make changes to FiT scheme.
Reacting to these concerns, Vince said ground-mounted PV had a role to play in the market, just as roof-mounted PV did, and he warned that any changes to the FiT would make investment in solar in the UK uneconomical. "We can only build things that are economical. We have to sell it a price that customers can afford, otherwise solar doesn’t work."
Ecotricity has been making biogas available to its customers for almost an year now and the launch of the Renewable Heat Incentive next year is expected to kick-start renewable heat generation in the UK. "We plan to make our own green gas and pitched at the right level, the RHI would bridge that economic gap. We are looking at the first one now and talking to a number of people," he said
This week also, saw the UK solar developer mO3 Power revealing its plans to provide a gigawatt of electricity on farmland across the UK. The company has submitted planning applications at 34 sites. Within the last few months, two ground-mounted solar plants – 35 Degrees 1 MW plant in Cornwall and 450 kilowatt owner occupier array in Somerset have also been given the ‘go ahead’.