German developer BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH has completed an 18MW solar farm in south west Wales.

The project was commissioned at the end of March and represents the company’s fourth solar farm development in the UK.

Despite the extreme weather that plagued solar developers in the first quarter, BayWa r.e. managed to construct and commission the solar farm in just nine weeks.

Commenting on the completion of the site, Matthias Taft, managing director of BayWa r.e. praised his project team’s work. He said: “The rapid implementation of the Whitland solar farm shows that our project team and technical know-how put us in an excellent position.”

Taft believes that the company’s record of commissioning projects on time and economically will enable BayWa r.e. to finance even larger projects in the UK “without difficulties”.

The solar farm at Whitland sits on a 28 hectare site and boasts 69,000 solar modules. The company estimates that the solar farm will generate around 17,000,000kWh per annum – enough to power 5,000 local homes.

BayWa r.e. reports that it currently has a “significant” pipeline of solar projects in the UK.