BNRG Renewables goes on €25m solar run across 85 acres in the UK

Irish alternative energy company BNRG Renewables has begun constructing a €25m solar energy project in the UK, which will have the capacity to generate enough electricity for close to 5,000 homes for 30 years.

Mon, 04 Aug, 2014 - 01:00

Geoff Percival

While the Dublin-headquartered company has been developing and constructing such projects for the best part of a decade, the new project is the first as part of a new joint-venture agreement it has in place with UK fresh produce business, Langmead Group.

The 15-megawatt solar park, set for Bilsham Farm in West Sussex, will cover an area of 85 acres and produce enough electricity for 4,950 homes for the next three decades.

According to BNRG’s project co-ordinator Conor Grogan “getting the project to this stage has taken over 12 months and is a testament to each team member at BNRG and the Langmead Group, who developed a superb scheme.”

This time last year, BNRG announced a €35m investment in another 20 megawatt solar park in the UK — that one being as part of a joint-venture with London-based partner, Lightsource Renewable Energy.

To date, BNRG — which is based in Dublin’s IFSC and forms part of IDA Ireland’s ‘Green IFSC’ initiative eco-funds attraction programme — has developed and constructed solar farms with a combined value of over €170m, bringing the total to 11 utility-scale solar projects completed in the UK since 2011.

While primarily a produce company, Langmead entered the partnership with BNRG in order to strengthen its commitment to sustainability. The company farms some 2,500 hectares of land across England, Scotland and Spain.

This specific joint-venture between the two businesses — to be called BNRG-Langmead — will focus on agri-energy projects.

BNRG — which also recently received planning approval to build Ireland’s first utility-scale solar project near Downpatrick in Co Down — is looking at a number of similar project opportunities; chiefly across Britain and mainland Europe, with construction work to begin from next year onwards.