Countryside Renewables (CRL), a specialist in developing and financing PV projects, has obtained planning permission to build its proposed 5MW solar project in Exning, Suffolk.

After reviewing more than 500 other potential sites in the UK for the project, CRL selected the Exning site which is surrounded by trees on all sides so that it does not have a visual impact on neighbouring properties.

Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2013 and will involve installing around 22,000 PV modules. The company was unable to confirm who the supplier would be. The project is expected to complete by the end of June 2013.

When complete, the project will generate an estimated 5GWh of solar power every year which is said to be enough meet the electricity demand of around 1,200 homes on an annual basis, which is more than the number of homes in Exning village. The village will therefore have the capacity to be entirely powered by solar. 

Moreover, the company claims that the project will be one of the first solar projects in the UK to provide reactive power control to the grid.

According to CRL’s Managing Director John Dunlop, the Exning project is “well located” and will produce electricity at a price which is cheaper than power generated by offshore wind parks.