UK-based clean energy project developer TGC Renewables has completed installation of a 1.7MW solar farm in Newquay, South West England. The 12-acre Trevemper project is now connected to the grid and is set to provide a regular income for the site's landowner and local community.
Ben Cosh, managing director of TGC Renewables, said, 'Despite the withdrawal of financial incentives and government support from the sector, TGC's team has fought against the odds to prove that solar farms are deliverable in the UK. The completion of this project reinforces our belief that, with the right level of insight and project management, we can create investment grade solar farms which make use of unproductive agricultural land to help replace the UK's aging power stations.'
The UK solar feed-in tariff (FIT) was reduced recently leading to a flurry of large-scale developments as project managers rushed to meet the deadline. Subsequently solar businesses began to focus on the microgeneration market which has begun to gain momentum in the UK as rising bills force households to consider a new approach. As the FIT still subsidies projects on this scale, financial companies are starting to identify these as safe, long-term investment opportunities.
The FIT for solar is widely expected to be lowered in the UK again next year.