Independent property Fund Manager, Rockspring Property Investment Managers is to convert Westcott Venture Park in Buckinghamshire to run on solar energy. Rockspring, which is being advised by Renewable energy company Ownergy, will begin construction in the New Year.
Rockspring has now received planning permission for 1,500 solar panels with a combined capacity of about 350kW to be installed on the former RAF airfield, which is now home to over 70 businesses occupying space from as little as 300 sq ft to over 30,000 sq ft. Further development phases are also in the pipeline, which would see the capacity increased to 1.2MW providing enough energy to power the entire park in the daytime.
The park will be eligible for the UK feed-in tariff, which provides an incentive for businesses to produce renewable energy. Annual returns are predicted to average over 10%.
Rod Mordey, Rockspring head of UK asset management said, “This flagship project underlines Rockspring’s commitment to sustainability and will greatly assist with our long term goal of powering Westcott with 100% renewable energy.”
Philip Wolfe, chairman of Ownergy said, “The occupiers of the Westcott Venture Park will be able to use the electricity we produce and so maximise the financial return for Rockspring. This is exactly the sort of project the feed-in tariffs were designed to support.”