Plans revealed to create Peterborough solar farm to power hundreds of homes

Solar panels: Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking permission to build a 2.7 MW solar farm and battery energy storage system in Stanground.

The site is situated between the A1139 Fletton Parkway, Stanham Way and the A605 in the south of Peterborough.

The proposed location is an old landfill site that was formally closed in 1992. It is Cambridgeshire County Council-owned land, and the development work would be of no cost to Peterborough City Council or its residents.

Sales of electricity and provision of services to the grid would generate revenue for the continued delivery and development of frontline services.

This pioneering use of the site, turning it into an active energy generation centre, is the first of its kind in the East of England and has the potential to be replicated on other similar sites across the region.

The Stanground site would generate significant amounts of renewable electricity – enough to meet the demand of over 700 houses. Electricity would be used to supply energy into the electricity grid or to large local businesses, and to charge a battery energy storage system on site. The battery would provide electricity storage capacity supporting a more resilient network by providing grid stability and energy balancing services.

Cllr Joshua Schumann, Chairman of the Commercial & Investment Committee for the county council, said: ““It is estimated that the solar farm would save around 6,500 tonnes of carbon over its lifetime.

“Utilising an old landfill site in this way is really quite innovative and has the potential to be replicated elsewhere, creating a source of green and clean energy for the future.”

Members of the public can join virtual Zoom and Facebook Live events to hear more about

the Stanground Closed Landfill Solar Farm scheme on:

May 20 at 6pm (join via https://zoom.us/j/385770627)

June 3 at 6pm (join via https://zoom.us/j/153161490)

June 17 at 6pm (join via https://zoom.us/j/180221249)

For further details, please email [email protected] or visit www.mlei.co.uk, where there is also a survey for local residents to feedback with their thoughts about the project.