Barnfield Solar Park
CLIENT: SWINDON BOROUGH COUNCIL
Barnfield Solar Park is a private-wire project on a former landfill site in Swindon owned by Swindon Borough Council. The project was energised in 2018.
PPS, now known as Ethical Power Development, developed the 2.5 MW project on the council-owned former landfill site adjacent to the recycling centre at Cheney Manor which is connected by a ‘private-wire’ to the Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) Plant.
Swindon Borough Council invested directly in the solar project and agreed a long-term power purchase arrangement with us, which means the project can operate profitably without a large subsidy. Overall the solar farm is expected to enable Swindon Borough Council to avoid £185,000 a year in energy costs.
“This is the latest example of how, using PPS, we have been able to use renewable energy to reduce our carbon footprint, which is a top priority for us. We have been particularly successful in recent years in delivering solar schemes across the Borough and this latest project is no exception, with the energy being used to power our SRF plant, which does such an excellent job in preventing our waste from going to landfill. It will also save a significant amount of money at a time when we have to deliver large savings from our budget, so I am delighted we have been able to flick the switch this week to get the benefit of this green energy source.”