Powerful message as first solar farm links to National Grid

News that the first solar farm has been connected directly to the National Grid is a major step forward for renewable energy.

Midlands energy expert Ron Fox was commenting on the 50MW Larks Green site, which although it is capable of powering 17,300 homes with its 152,400 individual panels, is instead to be plugged into the transmission network.

“Hopefully, this will relieve fears of a bottleneck for green energy after some developers were told they would have to wait until the 2030s or 2040s for a connection to the National Grid,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park.

He said that hundreds of solar farms and 1.2 million homes with rooftop solar panels had previously been connected to the electricity grid’s equivalent of A-roads, called distribution networks.

However, a solar farm at Itchington, near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, has instead been connected to the transmission network, the motorways of the electricity system.

Ron explained that the main difference between transmission and distribution power lines was that transmission power lines were for long-distance, high-voltage electricity transportation, whereas distribution power lines were for shorter distances and moving lower-voltage electricity.

The Gloucestershire project is a collaboration between National Grid, Cero Generation and Enso Energy. Charles Cresswell, director at Cero Generation, said the scheme had been made possible by running a high-voltage cable from the solar panels to the nearby Iron Acton sub-station.

He said the distribution network was now getting saturated and connecting to the higher-voltage national electricity network meant it would be quicker and it would lead to smaller energy losses with this technology.

The solar farm will produce 49.9 megawatts of energy, not only by producing electricity in daytime when it’s sunny, but also due to the inclusion of a big battery storage system.

This will mean that the energy will be stored during peak production and will then be exported back to the National Grid, maximising the site’s efficiency and allowing a greater power output.

Ron explained that solar power was the cheapest electricity technology in many countries and the fastest-growing source of electricity globally. But the UK has lagged behind on solar installations since the Cameron Conservative government cut incentives to householders and developers.

Earlier this month a cross-party group of MPs had written to the government telling it to work with energy networks, including National Grid, to unblock the pipeline of delays as there was potential for solar energy to have a bright future in the UK.

“I think these transmission connections will become the future for larger solar farms and hopefully this green energy will help the UK reach net zero emissions and also lead to cheaper energy bills for householders and businesses in future,” concluded Ron.

If you want any advice on green energy solutions, contact Ron on 0845 474 6641.

Caption: Powering on – more solar farms should be connected to the National Grid as a matter of urgency says green energy expert Ron Fox.