Ørsted, a Danish national energy company, has entered its first solar project in the UK with the
One Earth Solar Farm, a proposed 740MW solar farm with associated battery storage that will be located in Nottinghamshire near the border of Lincolnshire, and is being co-developed with
PS Renewables. Once operational, the solar farm will generate enough clean, renewable electricity to power up to 200,000 homes, making it one of the largest solar farms in the country. A development consent order (DCO) submission is planned for 2025.
Ørsted is taking a phased ownership in the project with the achievement of key milestones. PS Renewables and Ørsted are targeting a commercial operation date for the One Earth Solar Farm before 2030. The renewable electricity produced by the solar farm has ‘several potential routes to market’ including contracts for difference and corporate power purchase agreements.
The project will contribute to Ørsted’s ‘global ambition’ of reaching 17.5GW of onshore capacity by 2030. Ørsted, which currently has over 5.7GW of onshore renewables in operation, under construction or consented across the United States and Europe, says solar energy is crucial to diversifying and balancing energy generation and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The UK Government has set a clear target to increase solar capacity by nearly five-fold to 70GW by 2035 as part of wider plans to ‘power up Britain with cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy sources’.
Kieran White, Ørsted’s senior vice president of ‘Onshore in Region Europe’, said: “With a strong Irish onshore portfolio already in place, we are delighted to begin our journey in the UK solar market with PS Renewables, which has been successfully delivering large-scale solar projects for more than a decade.”
Matt Hazell, PS Renewables’ co-owner, added: “The One Earth Solar Farm stands to make an important contribution to the national decarbonisation effort. Our expertise in solar energy and Ørsted’s renewables track record make this a compelling project.”