UK’s ‘Most Advanced’ Solar PV Farm Completed

• Gridserve has completed and handed over 34.7 MW solar and storage project in the UK to Warrington Borough Council
• It has used over 90,000 bifacial solar panels with lithium-ion storage capacity to develop the project
• Power generated from the project will be sold in the open market by the council to generate additional income and will also be used for electric vehicle charging

Gridserve has completed the York Hybrid Solar Farm with 34.7 MW capacity at Boscar Grange near Easingwold in York. The British solar energy and battery storage systems developer called it the 'most advanced' solar farm in the country developed without state subsidies. It has handed over the project to Warrington Borough Council.

According to the company, the project is the first in the country to deploy bifacial solar panels, over 90,000 in numbers on 198 acres of land and also the first large-scale UK project to use trackers. At the same time, its 27 MW (AC) lithium-ion battery storage system and two-way grid connection helps the National Grid balance and supply energy.

It also boasts the project to be the first Type C project—defined as having over 10 MW capacity—within Northern Powergrid's network area that was required to undertake live witness tests to demonstrate dynamic voltage control, frequency response and reactive power capability.

Power supplied by the solar farm will also be used for electric vehicle charging, a network of which Gridserve plans to build adjacent to the site.

The council will also be purchasing another solar farm at Hull with 25.7 MW capacity from Gridserve to be handed over early next year. Both the projects will be managed by the latter over project lifetimes. Gridserve achieved financial closure for the project earlier this year (see UK Subsidy-Free Solar+Storage Project).

For the council, the York hybrid project will bring in additional sources of income as power generated will be sold on the open market, moreover, the Hull project will supply its own electricity needs. The deal will make it the first local authority to produce its own electricity. 

"Projects like this, which also require no government subsidy whatsoever, demonstrate that the UK can meet its net zero obligations well before 2050 and enable us to move the needle in delivering radical carbon reductions within the next 10-years," said Gridserve CEO and Founder Toddington Harper.

The concept of subsidy-free solar PV projects is gaining popularity in the UK after becoming a preferred option in other European nations as Spain, among others. Earlier this month, NextEnergy Solar Fund commissioned 50 MW Staughton Solar Farm as the 'largest' subsidy-free PV facility in the UK (see UK's 'Largest' Subsidy-Free Solar Plant Online).