Solar farm construction boom on the horizon

Opportunities from solar farm construction are set to increase after immediate post-election announcements from the new Labour government to ‘revolutionise’ energy supply.

Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will aim to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.

Glenigan economics director Allan Wilén commented: “Utilities work is expected to be the main driver of sector growth over the next 2-3 years as the new government further encourages investment in renewables to achieve net zero.”

A new publicly owned company, Great British Energy, will invest £8.3 billion in energy initiatives with the private sector. As a sign of its commitment to solar farms, the new Labour government immediately approved three new large solar farms in the East of England. These schemes will cost a total of around £1.2 billion and collectively generate 1.4GW of power, enough to supply electricity to 406,994 homes.

The £268 million Mallard Pass solar farm at Rutland in Lincolnshire will have a total capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) and construction should start next summer (Project ID: 22053703).

Work on the £600 million Sunnica Energy Farm at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk could start early, potentially by April according to Glenigan’s industry research (Project ID: 19093653).

The Gate Burton Energy Park in Lincolnshire is also valued at £268 million and will generate sufficient energy to power 1,600 homes (Project ID: 22239990). Work could also start by early Spring.

Solar farm pipeline

These projects are part of a sizeable pipeline of more than 260 solar farm developments with planning permission that are due to begin construction in the next 12 months according to Glenigan’s construction industry research.

The South East has the largest number of solar farm projects in the immediate pipeline. Glenigan’s research has found 47 approved schemes due to start in the next year.

These include plans for the 6,050 panel Swanwick Solar Farm, which is being developed by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) at its site near Southampton (Project ID: 23305235). NATS already has permission to install 2,700 panels at the site. The new scheme will comprise a farm on two nearby fields currently used for agricultural purposes and is due to get underway by the end of this year.

At Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, the £28 million Barnfield Solar Farm will generate approximately 28 megawatts of power (Project ID: 22450930). The plan is being developed by Low Carbon Solar Park 17 and work should start this Autumn.

Southern emphasis

With a warmer climate than the northern part of the United Kingdom, other regions in southern England are also generating significant pipelines of solar farm work.

There are 43 approved schemes in the East of England including the trio of major projects given the green light after the general election.

There are also 43 schemes in the South West. These range from smaller developments such as the £1.3 million Washford Solar Park in Somerset (Project ID: 21571226) to major schemes including the £50 million Panel Solar Farm at Winscombe in Avon, which will generate 49.9 MW (Project ID: 19361711). Work should start later this year.

Bright future

With government support and a significant pipeline of work, the solar farm industry is set for a bright future.