Renewable energy developer OnPath Energy has selected AECOM as lead consultant for a solar and storage project in South Yorkshire.
The infrastructure consultancy’s appointment represents a forward step in the development of the Common Farm Solar Energy Park in Dinnington, which will have an installed capacity of up to 49MW and be co-located with a 50MW battery storage facility.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council voted in favour of the project, with a majority of eight votes to one, in May 2023. OnPath Energy, formerly known as Banks Renewables, submitted planning in 2022.
It is planned for a 116-hectare site to the west of the Todwick Road Industrial Estate in Dinnington, around three miles to the east of OnPath’s Penny Hill wind farm.
AECOM will work alongside OnPath throughout construction, on planning, transport, engineering and environmental management. It will also assist in designing the power system, which will see the battery energy storage system (BESS) connect directly to the Thurcroft electricity substation about 3km north of the site.
OnPath said it expects construction to begin next summer and finish before the end of 2026. A £50,000 community benefit package has been decided and consultations on how it can be best used are currently underway. An ecology and biodiversity strategy are intended to ensure the development delivers a biodiversity net gain, planting a wildflower meadow around the solar array.
Martin Kellerman, construction director at OnPath Energy, explained: “AECOM has extensive experience of delivering large infrastructure projects like the Common Farm Solar Energy Park and has the expertise to manage all the different types of work that will go into creating it.”
AECOM is already currently working on the delivery of OnPath’s Barnsdale Solar Energy Park. The Barnsdale project broke ground at the end of October, having secured unanimous planning approval in 2021.
Kellerman continued: “We’ve seen how effectively [AECOM’s] team is working at our Barnsdale Solar Energy Park site and we’re very pleased to be extending our working
relationship with them here.”
OnPath previously considered installing a BESS at the Barnsdale site, as it has at Common Farm, but was rebuffed by the local council. Its first standalone BESS, the 200MW/400MWh, 2-hour duration Pond Energy Park passed through West Lothian Council’s executive committee with no objections.
The renewable energy developer appears to be in the process of diversifying its portfolio, having recently sold its shares in the Kype Muir Wind Farm Extension to funds owned by Schroders Greencoat.
At the time, Gordon Thomson, projects director at OnPath Energy, said: “OnPath has ambitious plans to make further additional capital investment in high quality renewable energy infrastructure, amplifying the difference we can make to a net zero future for the UK.”
