Published: 25 Aug 2021, 11:48
The solar is to be located at an old landfill site at Chelson Meadow. Image: Pixabay
Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) is working with Plymouth City Council to develop a community-owned solar farm.
The solar project will be located at an old landfill site, with PEC having now completed feasibility studies with support from a government grant. These showed the project could generate 14,284MWh per year while providing a 10% improvement in biodiversity.
PEC already owns and manages 20% of Plymouth’s renewable power infrastructure, with this new project to be three times bigger than the 4MW Ernsettle solar farm, also owned by PEC.
The organisation said that a community-owned solution will maximise the local economic benefits of the investment and ensure any surpluses are invested into other local projects that respond to climate change and tackle fuel poverty.
Maddi Bridgeman, cabinet member for environment and street scene, Plymouth City Council, said: “Our collaboration with PEC is widely seen as a national and international exemplar for how councils and local community led organisations cooperate to scale up grass roots response to climate change.”
Research from the Solar Centre in January found that when looking at solar investment per million pounds of council budget between 2015-2020, Plymouth has invested the second highest amount, beaten only by the London Borough of Merton.