Wales’ first council-owned solar farm was unveiled on Wednesday in Legacy by the Mayor of Wrexham, Barbara Roxburgh.
The 2.64MW solar farm was completed by British Gas Business and is located on 17 hectares of agricultural land. The solar farm will be owned and operated by the local authority, with the array predicted to generate enough electricity to power 700 homes a year, negating the emission of 1,300 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The £2.5 million renewable energy project will retain its agricultural use, with three quarters of the solar farm site left available for sheep grazing.
Councillor Neil Rogers, lead member for Economic Development and Regeneration at Wrexham Council, commented that the solar farm helps meet “one of the council’s priorities to be an environmentally responsible place”. Rogers also hinted that Wrexham Council will be exploring further developments, stating that he “looks forward to seeing more solar fields come online in the future”.
Chris Morrison, head of solar at British Gas Business, claimed that the project was an “important” step for councils. He said: “This project proves that solar energy is a sound investment not just for commercial organisations but also for councils and the public sector in Wales.”
The solar farm uses 8,800 Indian-manufactured Tata Power Solar modules, with local Welsh specialist companies used to carry out the installation of the modules onsite. Wrexham Council will recieve revenue from the solar array through the feed-in tariff scheme.
