One of the recently commissioned plants is the Ebbsfleet Solar Farm, one of the biggest in the UK at 4.9 MWp. It is located on the site of the former Richborough Power Station and comprises 20,400 photovoltaic modules installed over an area of 12.5 hectares.
vogt solar estimates that the modules will produce 5 million kWh electricity per annum, enough to meet the electricity needs of over 1,400 households and save 63,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the project. “Close to the old cooling towers, next to an unused wind turbine, you really get a sense of the potential of solar power”, comments David Hardy, Head of Business Development at vogt solar.
Seven arrays and plans for more
The UK subsidiary of the German group has also recently completed several other solar farms across the region, the largest of which is a 4.5-MWp array on the Isle of Wight utilising 19,200 panels and covering an area of 13.5 hectares. The plants’ total output of 4.8 million kWh will meet the annual electricity requirements of around 1,300 households, saving 61,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. vogt solar has also been responsible for developing the 0.6 MWp St. Nicholas Solar Farm in Kent consists of 2,400 ground-mounted photovoltaic modules over an area of 1.17 hectares, and four smaller arrays of around 100 kWp installed with local landowners in Sussex, Isle of Wight and Cornwall. It is planed that these will be expanded in due course.
“The UK economy has benefited from millions of pounds of investment; carbon dioxide savings in excess of 5,000 tonnes per annum; and enough safe, clean, green energy to power around 3,000 homes for the next 25 years,” says Dagmar Vogt CEO of the vogt group. “We are proud to contribute to the UK renewables target, and look forward to a shift in UK government position so that we can bring the benefits of solar to more communities.”
vogt solar realised the projects as EPC contractor and was involved in the development, financing, planning, engineering, procurement and realisation of the solar farms. Anton Milner, in charge of solar farm activities at Vogt solar, explains that due to a shift in UK government policy earlier this year, which saw feed-in tariffs being cut for arrays of 50 kW, the company was forced to adopt “very quick, flexible and creative approaches – including innovative financing and rapid realisation techniques with our partners”.
“Our teams have done a professional job under tight timing,” he says. The company hopes to use the experience gleaned from these projects to develop a larger 5-MW solar farm to the north of Bourn, Cambridgeshire, on approximately 30 acres of agricultural land. The proposed solar farm could generate enough clean energy to power approximately 1,200 homes.
vogt solar joins over 900 other solar companies and organisations this week at the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Hamburg (Germany).
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