British Army opens 2.3-MWp pilot solar farm

The British Army today opened its first solar farm, a 2.3-MWp array at the Defence School of Transport (DST) in Leconfield, and said it is gearing up to install more.

The solar farm is the first of four pilot sites to go live as part of the British Army’s GBP-200-million (USD 272m/EUR 233m) Project Prometheus. The Army plans to invest this sum in solar farms over the next 10 years to support the UK government’s net zero target by 2050.

“Leconfield is the first of four pilot sites to open this year; each builds on our knowledge and expertise, enabling us to upscale and deliver a total of 80 solar farms across the Army Estate within the decade; we continue to Think Big - Start Small - Scale Fast,” said Director of Basing and Infrastructure, Major General David Southall.

The Leconfield facility was built by Centrica Business Solutions and completed earlier this month. It was officially opened by the Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin. Most of the power generated will be consumed onsite and any surplus will be fed into the grid.

The further three pilot solar farms are under construction, with the construction contract for them awarded to 3Ti.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.359/EUR 1.163)

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