A massive scheme to create solar farms near Shrewsbury and generate power for thousands of homes has more than doubled in the past week – taking its total outlay to £125 million.
Bosses at Wind & Solar Systems Ltd (WSS) have confirmed that the London-based investment bank heading up the finances has freed up another £65 million which will be available if the ambitious proposals are given the green light by planners.
It means the initial five sites earmarked for £12 million investment each as revealed in last week’s Chronicle have now expanded to ten sites, which are believed to be in the Westbury area, nine miles west of Shrewsbury.
This is due to the capacity the new underground power line would be able to accommodate – and could now mean up to 15,000 homes in the region receive 50 mega-watts of solar energy to help power their homes.
A series of meetings will be held in the area this month where bosses will explain the plan, and a team of technical specialists will survey 14 candidate sites at the end of October as the selection of first and second-wave sites are decided upon.
Once the sites are confirmed a planning application will be lodged at Shropshire Council.Mike Marchant, spokesperson for WSS, said: “The sites would be on a spine from Westbury following the line of the underground power cable and so far we’ve had 14 expressions of interest – so it means we’ve had a very healthy response from the agricultural community.
“I would like to think that working with the local community we could bring the full investment to the area.
“It would make a huge difference because the investment input is massive and that would be creating income from the point of connection.”
Derek Doyle, CEO of the company, said: “We found only positive attitudes when we made our first visit to assess conditions and I was pleased to recommend a very significant investment in the area.”
By David Seadon