Enviromena Wins Contract To Repower Three Major Solar Farms In UK

UK-based Clean energy solutions company Enviromena has won a contract to repower three major solar farms in the UK ahead of the peak generation months this summer including Halse Solar Farm in Taunton; Horsacott Solar Farm in Barnstaple and Jordanston Solar Farm in Tenby, which are all government subsidy accredited sites with a combined capacity of 20MWp and have been operational for over 10 years. During this time, they have developed significant performance and availability issues.

According to the company, Enviromena’s in-house Design and Optimisation team has reviewed the performance data from the sites in detail, and full site surveys have been undertaken to provide a recommended scope of work for each project. Enviromena’s focus was ensuring a future-proof, easy-to-maintain system going forward. The results of this work will see all three sites return to 100% availability. Uprated inverters will be installed across all three sites where required, and full replacement of all DC cabling and upgrades to the electrical infrastructure will restore the sites to full operating capacity. In addition to improving the current and ongoing reliability and safety of the sites, these works will increase the amount of clean energy being exported back to the grid.

Gary Saunders, Technical Director at Enviromena, said, “Over time solar projects like these see performance reductions, as much as 25% in some cases, due to failed DC cabling and ducting or older technology inverters becoming obsolete. Sites become much more difficult to maintain, so repowering is a cost-effective way of bringing them back to and maintaining their maximum possible performance. It also increases the value of the asset while at the same time increasing its life span. “A significant amount of effort goes into repowering projects, but we are well placed to support asset owners on projects such as this thanks to our in-house experienced resources covering planning, design, grid, construction, and O&M,” he added.

Enviromena’s team is managing over 250 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy assets in the UK and Italy and ensuring optimum performance across the whole portfolio.