Cornwall Council Approves Construction of U.K.'s First Solar Park

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K.'s first solar park has been given the green light and will be constructed at a disused tin mine in Cornwall, on the southwest coast of England.

Cornwall Council has granted permission to solar developer 35 Degrees (Slough, England) to build a 1.55-megawatt (MW) solar farm at Wheal Jane, near the town of Truro. Occupying a 7.3-acre site, the country's first solar park will have 5,700 solar panels mounted on 2-metre frames that will generate 1.25 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, enough for about 300 homes. 35 Degrees has plans to construct 100 MW of solar energy parks over the next five years, mainly in the southwest of England.

The council's approval for the Wheal Jane plant is seen by some as the start of a solar power 'gold rush' in the U.K., which could see more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) invested in solar ventures in Cornwall alone.

More than 40 companies have expressed an interest in developing solar farms in Cornwall, and according to the council, up to 100 applications are expected to be lodged.

"These are very exciting times. Cornwall is in a fantastic position with this amazing level of interest in renewable technology," said Carolyn Rule, a Cornwall Council cabinet member. "We need to make the most of this unique opportunity, and we are working with the private sector to ensure that this huge investment brings real benefits to people in Cornwall in terms of new jobs, new infrastructure and business opportunities."

German company, Solon SE (ETR:SOO1) (Berlin, Germany) will supply its monocrystalline Black 280/11 modules for the Wheal Jane solar park.

Stefan Säuberlich, CEO of Solon, said in a company press release: "Solon is close to building the first ground-mounted solar power plant in the U.K. and sounding the starting shot for a market with a very promising future. With the UK Clean Energy Cashback scheme, launched on 1 April 2010, the United Kingdom has created the basis for the nationwide expansion of renewable energy and is promoting the use of photovoltaics, i.e., generating electricity directly from solar energy. By offering attractive subsidies without market caps and for 25-year periods, the U.K., which receives just about as much sunlight as Germany in terms of geography, is viewed as a market with massive growth potential."

According to market research company Solarbuzz (San Francisco, California), this week, the emergence of the U.K. into the solar market couldn't be better timed, especially as the German solar market is slowing down. Solarbuzz maintains that with feed-in tariffs as high as 41 pence per kWh paid over 25 years, the foundations are in place for "rampant PV market growth in 2011."

"The early entrance of big name brands are helping to lend public confidence to what is generally a poorly understood renewable energy source in the U.K.," said Alan Turner, Vice President of Solarbuzz Europe. "These companies join a multitude of European and international companies scrambling to establish early positions in this fast-growing embryonic market. Notwithstanding the potential uncertainty over government policy, no major company can afford to ignore this market opportunity."

Cornwall is becoming a hub for renewable energy investment in England. Last month, the region celebrated becoming home to the U.K.'s first planned geothermal power plant. Geothermal Engineering Limited (London, England) received the go-ahead from the U.K. government in August to construct a facility in Redruth capable of producing 10 MW of electricity and 55 MW of renewable heat energy. For additional information, see August 18, 2010, article - Green Light for U.K.'s First Geothermal Power Plant.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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