Once completed, the approximately 3MWp array will generate 3.3 million kWhs (units) a year and follows a similar scheme to install a 4MWp array at Rue du Moulin à Vent, St Clement announced earlier.
The Sorel site is located on low quality agricultural land close to Ronez Quarry and the motocross track. It is well screened from the Coastal Path and surrounding area by established hedgerows. The proposals include improving those hedgerows, planting more native species, providing bat and bird nesting boxes and marks the end of fertiliser and pesticide use, which is expected to significantly enhance biodiversity in the area.
JE also plans to work with local ecologists to manage the site to the same standards as the Coastal National Park. Ground solar arrays are temporary structures with no concrete foundation, allowing the land to be easily returned to how it was at the end of the life of the array.
Until this year, JE has focused on bringing roof-based solar on to the grid with four main installations on its Power Station, Queen’s Road Solar Hub, Woodside Farm, and the largest solar PV array in the Channel Islands at Jersey Dairy, currently generating a combined one million kWhs (units) a year. A further array on the roof of the Albert Bartlett potato processing plant in St Helier is set to produce a further half a million kWhs a year and will supersede others as the largest in the Channel Islands.
Now JE is looking to install a series of strategically placed ground-based solar PV projects on carefully selected sites close to strong grid connection points which could bring on-Island generation of solar PV to more than 10MWp. That would generate 11million kWhs a year, enough to power 1,500 Jersey homes a year using an average 7,300 kWhs per year.
JE CEO Chris Ambler said: ‘There is a clear desire for Jersey to be more energy independent and we believe that ground-mounted solar PV, which is the most cost effective of all the solar projects, can now play an increasing and valuable role as part of Jersey’s energy mix while we continue to research the viability of offshore wind.’
JE will hold a public consultation on Tuesday 20th September between 10am and 8pm at St John Parish Hall. Members of the public and interested parties are invited to view a display of the solar farm scheme. The JE project team will be on hand to discuss and answer questions on the proposals. Feedback will be collected which will help inform the planning application.
