Braydon Manor Solar Farm
CLIENT: PRIVATE LANDOWNER & WILTSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST
The landowners approached PPS, now known as Ethical Power Development, to develop a scheme that would produce a secure rental income for a 25-year period. The project was funded and built by Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy (WWCE), an independent community enterprise set up by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to develop, finance and operate community owned renewable energy projects.
WWCE raised £3 million to finance the project in a community share offer managed by Mongoose Energy.
As well as generating enough power to supply the equivalent of 2,500 homes, the solar farm will save 3,900 tonnes of carbon per year. The land around the solar panels is being used to create a ecological hotspot, sown with green hay from a nearby nature reserve and with sheep grazing to keep down the grass.
The project was named Best Renewable Energy Scheme at the 2015 Regen Green Energy Awards.