BayWa r.e., a global renewable energy company, in partnership with Grüne Energien, have recently received planning consent for the development of the Yanel Farm Solar project in Somerset, England.
The scheme will consist of a solar farm on land at Yanel Farm, north of Sandford. With a capacity of over 40 MW the project could produce enough green, sustainable, domestically produced energy to supply approximately 14,000 homes in the UK per year*. This is in line with the North Somerset Council’s current Core Strategy climate change objectives.
The development team have identified opportunities to create an ecologically rich environment on the site to achieve a biodiversity net gain by increasing wildlife and habitat through the creation of biodiverse grassland areas and planting new native hedgerows. Additionally, the Yanel Solar Farm site can continue to be used for agricultural purposes, as sheep will be able to graze between the solar panels.
Nick Kay, Head of Solar at BayWa r.e. UK Ltd., said:
“We are delighted about receiving planning consent for Yanel Solar Farm. This achievement shows the success of our solar development team, who are currently working to deliver a 1.5 GW pipeline in the UK. Projects like Yanel are essential to meeting net zero targets, and it is great to see that North Somerset Council is committed to contributing to these goals.”
With its capacity of over 40 MW Yanel Solar Farm will contribute to the growing need for an average of 3 GW per year of solar power in the UK, which is necessary to meet the government’s net zero goals.
*Calculated using recent statistics from DESNZ showing that annual GB average domestic household consumption is 3,509kWh (as of December 2022, updated annually): number of megawatts installed, multiplied by a site specific load factor expressed as a fraction of 1, multiplied by number of hours in a year, divided by average annual domestic electricity consumption expressed in MWh.
