The company expects the 4.99 MW Parc Cynog Solar Farm to begin producing power in March this year. It will begin conducting feasibility studies shortly, investigating the installation of solar panels on community buildings at no cost to recipients.
The project was consented by Carmarthenshire County Council in November 2015 and is a pilot project aimed at maximising the renewables potential of Vattenfall’s UK sites. The Parc Cynog site already includes 11 wind turbines, in operation for 14 years, the principle of co-location enabling wind and solar generators, which produce power at different times, to support each other.
“In 2002 we installed the first five wind turbines at Parc Cynog, and then in 2008 we added another six” said Daniel Wills, Vattenfall’s Associate Project Manager for the Parc Cynog Solar Farm. “In 2016 we will add a 4.99MW solar farm. Looking back we have made the most of the wind farm site and we are doing that again as a pioneer of co-location with solar power. And it makes a lot of sense for Vattenfall to maximise the clean energy potential of its sites as we support Wales’s drive towards a low carbon and home grown energy supply.”
Mr Wills added that the company wants the local community to benefit which is why it is planning to install community solar panels throughout the area. Construction on the Castle Lloyd Farm site will start towards the end of January with the build complete by the end of March. The 18,860 panels and associated infrastructure will be delivered by approximately 50 HGV loads from Swansea Docks over the three month construction phase. The solar array and the wind farm will share an existing connection to the grid. The solar farm will be capable of generating enough power every year to meet the equivalent annual electricity demand of 1,441 Carmarthenshire households.
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