Published: 25 Jun 2023, 21:12
Coventry Councillor Jim O’Boyle with the city’s recently unveiled Very Light Railway to decarbonise public transport. Image: Coventry City Council Flickr
A planning application for a new solar farm near the M6 has been submitted by Coventry City Council on land in the council’s ownership.
The site is around 103 acres and is currently used for sheep farming and agriculture. Options to continue the farming activities are being considered in combination with solar energy production as part of the council’s focus on biodiversity. Rules in the Environment Act 2021 due to come into force later in 2023 mean new construction projects must also deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain.
Coventry City Council also has plans to decarbonise its bus fleet by 2025, while the UK’s second Energy Superhub is also being constructed in the city.
The council say the project will output “circa 30 MW of green electricity on a summer’s day”, while the site’s public consultation page describes it as a 33MW solar project on land chosen because “it has excellent connections to the electrical grid”.
☀️ We’ve taken a big step in our ambition to tackle #ClimateChange by submitting a planning application for a solar farm
The proposed site is in the north of the city, close to the M6, and will deliver clean, green energy and benefit the local community: https://t.co/qtW4MRMBcK pic.twitter.com/vuLz6PkumR
— Coventry City Council (@coventrycc) June 16, 2023
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said: “The proposed solar farm is part of a wide range of initiatives helping deliver our and the city’s climate change ambition… This idea goes hand in hand with our other green projects including plans for Coventry Very Light Rail, improved cycling infrastructure, and our drive to install more on-street charge points. We will be the UK’s first all electric bus city too, of course.”
Additionally the project will improve local biodiversity, increase the amount of wildlife habitat by 40% and provide benefits for local people “to ensure they get some of the green benefits too.” The council projects it will take around 7 months to set up.