Westmill Solar Co-operative acquires 5MW solar park in UK

Westmill Solar Co-operative, comprising a group of renewable energy pioneers, has acquired the 5MW Westmill Solar Park near Shrivenham on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire border.

The large £16.5m project signifies the first community owned solar farm in the UK and is also the world’s largest, claimed Westmill.

Consists of more than 20,000 solar PV panels spread across 30 acres on a former airfield the park generated 4,900MWh of energy in 2011.

The park can power 1500 houses in the region and displace 2,000t of CO2 emissions per annum.

Westmill Solar Co-operative founder director Adam Twine said that the deal is a team effort against a backdrop of shifting government policy and tight timescales.

"Westmill represents the best of what low carbon investment and renewable energy can offer and hopefully will inspire others to realise that when we get together we can make change happen and can engage positively with the threat of climate change," Twine added.

Westmill Solar Co-operative chairman Philip Wolfe further stated that solar power will become the greatest energy source around the world; heralding a new era of sustainable and ‘democratic’ energy supply.

"As the success of Westmill shows, solar energy enables ordinary people to produce clean power, not only on their roof tops, but also at utility scale."