Anesco gets green light for 48MW Staffordshire solar farm
Anesco has received planning permission from South Staffordshire Council for the development of a 48-megawatt solar farm in Coven, Staffordshire.
The 143-acre site will generate enough green electricity to power around 13,000 homes and save approximately 10,000 tonnes of carbon from being produced annually. Its construction is expected to get underway in early 2025.
The site will benefit from advanced biodiversity improvements designed to support local wildlife and some of the country’s most at-risk species. These improvements go beyond planning requirements and will provide an estimated biodiversity net gain of upwards of 200%.
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.
Anesco CEO, Hildagarde McCarville, commented: “We’re delighted to have secured approval to move ahead with this project. The solar farm at Coven will generate significant benefits for the environment and form part of the renewable infrastructure and security of supply that the country so vitally needs, if we are to achieve net zero and the government’s target of 70GW of solar by 2035.
“South Staffordshire Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and developed an action plan that includes encouraging renewable sources of energy supply. The project is fully aligned with those plans, while actively contributing to the UK’s energy transition and net zero target.”
Anesco is a market leader in the development, build, maintenance and optimisation of grid-scale solar and energy storage projects. The company has energised more than 1.1GW of solar and storage assets to date, with a target to safely energise a further 1.5GW by 2030.
In addition, Anesco is helping reduce fuel poverty and lowering emissions by improving the energy efficiency of homes, as a managing agent for the government’s ECO scheme.
Founded and headquartered in the UK, Anesco has a growing presence across Europe, including within the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.
