Showcasing the power of solar to the new UK government
Lightsource bp and its partners had the privilege of welcoming members of the new UK government to two renewable energy sites.
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, visited the recently completed Tiln Farm solar and energy storage project. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Michael Shanks MP, visited the Manor Farm solar project in Eggington, Bedfordshire.
A closer look at our first-ever battery storage project with Ed Miliband
Tiln Farm consists of a 49.9MWac solar project and a 25MW energy storage project near Retford, Nottinghamshire. The project was funded, developed and constructed by Lightsource bp, and is now owned by funds managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP. Representatives from both companies were on-site with Mr Miliband, touring the facility and providing a close-up look at ground-mount solar’s role in meeting the UK’s sustainability targets.
Agriculture and solar working in tandem at Manor Farm
Shortly after, Minister Shanks was taken on a tour of the Manor Farm project. The 5MWp site was developed by Lightsource bp and is now owned by Bluefield and GLIL. It continues to be operated and maintained by Lightsource bp’s asset services team.
The Minister and officials from DESNZ, as well as representatives from Bluefield, GLIL and Lightsource bp were also joined on the site by a flock of the landowner’s sheep, which have happily grazed the site since it was completed. It was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate one of the ways agriculture and solar can, and do, co-exist.
Visit our project pages to learn more about projects like Tiln Farm and Manor Farm.
Learn more about agrivoltaics
Solar farms can grow more than electricity. Agrivoltaics (agriculture + “photovoltaics”) places crops or livestock underneath and between rows of solar panels. While researchers are trialling how to grow fruit and vegetable crops at scale, the most common and successful forms of agrivoltaics at solar projects currently are sheep grazing and bee keeping. These practices keep the land in agriculture while providing additional revenue for our farmer partners and ecosystem benefits to the environment.
Learn more about Lightsource bp’s agrivoltaics activity.