Labour led Exeter City Council are delivering on the Party’s commitment to drive forward clean sustainable energy. The Council’s plans to build its first City solar farm and battery storage project are well underway.

The solar farm, will be built on an inactive landfill site and will comprise of three thousand seven hundred solar photovoltaic (PV) modules creating a 1.2MW array, two battery storage containers and an electrical switch room. A 1MW/2MWh battery with a separate connection will provide renewable energy supply to the council’s nearby operations facility. This will further increase the Council’s over all use of renewable energy for its day to day operations.

The renewable supply from the project is expected to support the future electrification of the council’s operational fleet. 

Councillor Rachel Sutton, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Net Zero Exeter 2030, said: “This is a really great initiative which shows that the City Council is leading by example and investing in projects, as we move towards a carbon-neutral future.”

The £3.5 million scheme will receive almost £1.6 million in grant funding from the European Regional Development Fund designed to drive forward innovation, energy storage solutions and smart grid systems in the region.

Our City Council’s energy team has a proven track record of climate mitigation work, having installed over 2MW of solar PV on its estate, numerous energy saving projects and a network of public EV Charging facilities.   

Replication of this project provides an opportunity to create long term growth in the smart energy storage market and to address unsustainable trends in local energy infrastructure demand.   Supporting a green recovery to help rebuild and support the local economy post COVID-19. 

The city has committed to becoming net zero by 2030.