Planners at independent commercial property adviser GVA in Cardiff have secured planning permission for Elgin Energy EsCo Ltd for a new ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installation in Pembrokeshire.
The scheme was refused by Pembrokeshire County Council in June last year, however, GVA lodged an appeal against the decision on Elgin’s behalf and, following an informal hearing in February this year, the Inspector’s formal decision was issued on 16 April 2014, allowing the appeal and granting planning permission. This is the solar energy firm’s second installation in Wales.
The 11 hectare site at Wogaston Farm, Rhoscrowther, will have a rated capacity of around 5MWp, generating in the region of 5 million kWh of electricity per year – the equivalent to the average annual UK electricity consumption for 2,000 houses.
Elgin Energy will install and maintain the 19,000 panels over a period of up to 30 years, leasing the land from the farm’s owner. The energy generated will be distributed back to the National Grid with a small portion used directly by the farm.
The slopes on the land at Wogaston Farm help achieve the greatest efficiency in terms of energy generation – greater exposure to sunlight with a greater density of panels able to be erected without a reduction in efficiency due to shading.
GVA’s Cardiff office prepared and submitted the planning application, and the subsequent appeal, on behalf of Elgin Energy. Ben Lewis of GVA’s Planning team comments: “Wales is one of the best locations for solar energy in the UK: longer hours of daylight than locations further north mean that a greater concentration of panels are feasible on selected sites. The use of Renewable Obligation Certificates gives energy providers a way to meet government targets for renewable power provision. As a result we are seeing an increasing number of applications being prepared.
“The refusal of the planning application by the Local Planning Authority was disappointing. We knew we had a strong case at appeal and this has been reflected in the inspector’s decision. Clearly, the ability of the scheme to contribute greatly to both local and national ambitions for increasing renewable energy generation was a significant consideration for the Inspector.”
Planning Policy Wales confirms that Wales has potential capacity for 1.0 GW of local electricity generation to be delivered by 2015/17.
GVA’s team in Cardiff is currently working on a number of commercial-scale solar PV sites across Wales, with Elgin Energy looking for sites of 20 acres upwards across the UK. Elgin’s first scheme in Wales, at a 12MW solar farm at Tycroes in Carmarthenshire, was granted planning permission in October 2013, and was connected to the grid at the end of March 2014.