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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Lightsource BP to start construction on its largest UK solar project to date
19/10/2022
News
Lightsource BP has confirmed that it has issued notice for construction contracts for what will be its largest ever UK solar project. Construction of the 61 MWp project will begin at Tiln Farm, Retford, in November. The company will be investing over £40mn into the project, which when complete will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 14,230 UK homes.
The UK is a key market in achieving Lightsource BP’s global ambitions to develop 25 GW by 2025. Tiln is the latest project to go into construction as part of the company’s UK project development pipeline, which is almost exclusively made up of sites this size and larger.
Once complete, 50 GWh of renewable energy generated by the project will be sold to Forterra, a UK building products manufacturer, annually for 15 years via a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA). The PPA will provide the company with valuable price certainty and predictability at a time when this is in short supply, enabling Forterra to reduce risk associated with one of its major operating expenses – energy.
In line with Lightsource BP’s stated sustainability commitments, approximately £560,000 will be spent on the implementation of a bespoke biodiversity management plan and a landscape planting plan during construction and development. A total of 10 acres of the site will remain free from solar panels and will instead be turned into wildflower meadows to enhance local biodiversity. The company has also made strong commitments to supporting rural businesses and communities, with the Tiln project designed to be suitable for sheep grazing, allowing agricultural activities to continue on the site.
Tiln Farm will be the first Lightsource BP project to go into construction using n-type TOPCon modules, which utilise a different composition of the materials inside the solar panel that is claimed to reduce losses and improve efficiency. The company is also exploring the addition of battery storage at Tiln Farm in the near future, further increasing the benefits of the solar project.
Commenting on the project, Kareen Boutonnat, CEO of EMEA and APAC, Lightsource BP, says: ‘Deploying solar in the UK is a key aspect of combatting the energy crisis – the fact that we can deliver a +60 MWp project like Tiln in under a year is critical. The addition of battery storage is another vital development, helping to dispatch solar to the grid during periods of peak demand.’
See next week’s 26 October 2022 issue of New Energy World for feature content on new solar PV technologies and developments.
