Anesco has secured planning approval from Amber Valley Borough Council and North East Derbyshire District to develop a 20MW solar farm in Derbyshire. The site was introduced to Anesco by Carter Jonas, who acts for the landowner on renewables schemes.

The 94-acre site in Alfreton is located on low-grade grazing land and will generate enough green electricity to power 5,000 homes, while saving over 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum. Its construction is expected to take around 27 weeks. 

The site will benefit from advanced biodiversity improvements designed to create habitats that support local wildlife and some of the country’s most at-risk species. These improvements are expected to deliver a 16% biodiversity net gain and will include the planting of a tree and hedgerows and the installation of bat and bird boxes around the site. 

Once complete, the solar farm will be operational for 40 years, after which time the panels and infrastructure will be removed and the land returned to agricultural use.

Mark Futyan, Anesco CEO, commented: “Solar power has a vital role to play if we are to achieve the UK’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030. The solar farm in Alfreton will not only advance this commitment but support the local authority in reaching its own goal of becoming carbon neutral within the same timeframe.

“From renewable asset design and development, through to construction, maintenance and revenue optimisation, our experienced team at Anesco is proud to be accelerating the UK’s transition to a low carbon energy network.”

Helen Melling, Senior Energy Specialist, Carter Jonas, commented: "Having been involved with this project from its inception we are extremely pleased to have reached this milestone. Successfully securing planning approval is a testament to the collaboration between all parties in unlocking the potential of the site. At a time when renewable power sources are needed more than ever, we look forward to helping progress this scheme to its next stage.”

Anesco has more than 430MW of new solar and storage projects in planning or at the ready to build stage, with a total pipeline exceeding 2GW, while its O&M team is managing more than 1.1GW of renewable energy assets.

For more information, please visit www.anesco.co.uk 

Photo caption: An Anesco solar farm

About Anesco
Anesco is a market leader in renewable energy, managing the development, design, construction, maintenance and market optimisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The company has constructed more than 100 solar farms and 30 energy storage facilities, while its O&M service is monitoring more than 24,000 sites.

Anesco was the first company in the UK to achieve subsidy-free solar; first to introduce utility-scale energy storage and first to co-locate energy storage with existing solar sites to meet the ROC requirements. To date, the technologies the company has deployed and manage are generating over 1GW of renewable energy. www.anesco.co.uk