A village near Ely in Cambridgeshire could soon be home to a five megawatt solar power plant, becoming East Anglia’s biggest installation to date. Local firm Abbey Renewables has outlined plans to build the 35-acre solar farm in Wilburton on land on Mingay Farm along Twenty Pence Road in the village.
The plans have been unveiled ahead of a formal planning application being submitted in mid-November this year. If approved, the project, which is costing £13 million, will provide renewable electricity for more than 1,200 homes in the area.
This news comes just weeks after the recent announcement that German energy firm Vogt Solar plans to build a 30-acre solar energy farm north of Bourn, also near Cambridge.
The latest plan would mean the whole of Wilburton and Aldreth, plus half of Haddenham, could be powered by the farm. These plants would also benefit from the UK feed-in tariff, which pays 29.3 pence per kilowatt hour of energy generated by this kind of system. This incentive is paid for a period of 25 years.
As well as earning a nice profit over its 25 year lifetime, the system is also expected to save more than 55,000 tonnes of CO2.
A public exhibition for East Cambridgeshire residents to find out more about the proposals is being held at Wilburton Village Hall on Thursday, November 11 from 3-8pm.
