BWE Partnership has submitted a planning application to create Scotland’s first solar-energy park in Angus. The Aberdeen-based renewable-energy company is looking to build a 19.54-hectare park at New Mains on Guynd Farm, near Arbroath.
The 9.5MW facility would be operational for 25 years, after which the components would be removed. It would provide enough energy to power 2,500 homes.
Ron Shanks, managing partner of BWE Partnership, said: “We are pleased to have reached the planning application stage in the development process, and hopefully our proposal will be viewed favourably by Angus Council and the local community.
"We continue to be on the look-out for further solar-park opportunities, especially in Angus and Fife, as we believe there is a real opportunity for Scotland to ‘harvest’ energy from the daylight.”
The JLL group provided planning and development advice on behalf of BWE. Steven Black, its director of planning and development, said: “While the idea of ‘farming’ sunshine in Scotland may seem odd to some people, the lower intensity of sunlight is compensated for by the longer hours of daylight, making solar power a viable resource north of the border.”