Solar farms to come to defence estate

Centrica is to install a photovoltaic solar farm at the British Army’s Defence School of Transport (DST), Leconfield, Yorkshire.

The solar array is the first of four pilot sites delivered as part of Project PROMETHEUS to increase renewable energy across the defence estate.

Spanning approximately 4ha, Centrica Business Solutions started construction of the 2.3MW solar farm earlier this year. Thirty employees are working on the project, installing 4,248 Trina Vertex panels, which is predicted to supply the DST with one third of its electricity needs.

Together, the four pilot sites will result in £1m in efficiency savings and reduce emissions by 2,000tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per year. These cost savings will be reinvested into Army infrastructure and help to reach the its ambition of Net Zero by 2045.

Major General David Southall, Director Basing and Infrastructure and the Army’s Sustainability Champion, said:“The Army remains wholly committed to play its part in meeting the UK’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. To deliver this, we are working hard to reduce energy demand as well as increase ‘green’ supply across our estate.

“Project PROMETHEUS is an exciting pilot which will showcase renewable energy generation across the Army estate. When operational, we will learn from our four pilot sites and scale-up fast across the wider Army estate to help decarbonise the power we use.”

The three further pilots at Duke of Gloucester Barracks, South Cerney, Gloucestershire; Rock Barracks, Suffolk; and Baker Barracks on Thorney Island, West Sussex, are scheduled for delivery by summer 2021, with the aspiration to deliver a further circa 80 solar farms across the army estate in the next seven years.