NTR to begin construction of 58.8MWp solar project

Renewable investment firm NTR is to begin construction of a 58.8MWp solar farm at Ockendon following its acquisition from REG Power Management (RPM).

Situated in Essex, UK, the project is regarded as “one of the largest” solar farms to be built on a repurposed landfill site in Europe, states the firm.

Project developer NTR will install 540W bifacial solar panels capable of capturing sunlight on both sides of the panels maximising its efficiency and resulting in increased output density.

“This is a hugely exciting project for us, particularly due to the location of the site. We are repurposing land that would otherwise go unused to supply clean power from a source next door to London where significant demand for renewable energy lies,” said Anthony Doherty, chief investment officer at NTR.

“Our team worked hard to develop new and innovative engineering solutions to ensure minimum disruption to the landfill and that maximum clean energy output is achieved.”

Mobilisation works for the installation of the panels has already started and it is hoped that the project will be fully operational in Q3 2023.

NTR’s project also contributes to its objective of creating a circular economy to protect the environment. To achieve this, the former landfill site is being left undisturbed with engineering and design techniques being adopted to repurpose the land for renewable energy generation.

“We are delighted to have developed a strong relationship with NTR in the course of selling them the Ockendon solar farm,” said Andrew Whalley, chief executive of REG Power Management.

“Their deep understanding of both renewable energy projects and the waste sector made them the ideal investor to take forward this key solar farm, which is strategically located on the edge of London, has good irradiation and can be operational before the end of 2023.” 

In March 2022, ElectroRoute disclosed it would optimise two battery storage projects on behalf of NTR which, when combined, will have a total capacity of 25MW.

The battery storage assets are to provide grid firming services to the power system, allowing system operators to integrate more renewables on the system while mitigating curtailment levels.

NTR is also developing projects as part of the NTR Renewable Energy Income Fund II, a wind, solar and energy storage fund operating across Europe.

As it stands, NTR has developed, constructed and operated almost 3,000MW of wind, solar and energy storage projects in Europe and the US.