Elwy Solar Energy Farm – Managing our business during Covid 19

Our top priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, colleagues, partners and the communities we serve – acting responsibly during the current pandemic.

All our office-based teams are currently working from home. Solarcentury has invested in remote-working tools over recent years, thereby allowing its teams to work from home. For many people, more flexibility is required – particularly for those with children at home. Solarcentury has always accommodated flexible working patterns and our office based teams continue to adopt this approach to ensure work commitments can be met.

Anybody carrying out preparatory work for Elwy Solar Energy Farm is following the latest Government guidelines. Those who can’t work from home will be following social distancing guidelines. Ecologists and environmental professionals have received dispensation from DEFRA to continue with outdoor work, including ecological surveying and supervision, as long as they follow Public Health England guidelines, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-distancing-in-the-workplace-during-coronavirus-covid-19-sector-guidance.

Chris Banks, UK Business Development Manager at Solarcentury said,

“We haven’t stopped work on Elwy Solar Energy Farm but the Coronavirus outbreak has meant we will delay things. We are now hoping to submit a planning application for the solar energy farm in early September 2020, with the formal pre-planning application consultation starting in June (subject to the restrictions in place at that time).

“Between now and then Solarcentury will continue to do the preparatory work associated with this project including the landscape and ecological assessments, grid connection work, and fine tuning of the design.

“The Coronavirus situation is making us rethink how we present information and engage with local communities and other stakeholders in the period between now and submitting the planning application. We are currently working on a plan for how we will do this and hope to be able to share this publicly soon. Questions about the scheme can continue to be sent via letter, email and by telephone – just the same as we have always done – and members of our team are always here to help”.

You can find new Coronavirus information in the FAQs section of our project website develop.solarcentury-refresh.greenlightdigital.com/elwy/faqs

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Notes to Editors:

Solarcentury, one of the UK’s leading solar power companies, is evaluating land to the north east of St. Asaph for the development of a new solar energy farm – Elwy Solar Energy Farm.

The land identified is north of the A55 North Wales Expressway and west of the A525 and has been carefully chosen for its potential to deliver high levels of solar-powered electricity to the grid. With a solar project of up to 62MWp proposed, the site would generate approximately 60 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to power over 20,000 homes, via an array of solar panels mounted on the ground. Solarcentury is also proposing to install batteries at the site in order to store the electricity generated for use during the day and the night.

Established in 1998, Solarcentury is a global integrated solar power company, and a leader in the development, construction and operation of solar projects and smart energy technology at all scales, across Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Independent and headquartered in the UK, Solarcentury is known internationally for developing and building some of the largest solar farms in the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Kenya and Mexico, as well as other pioneering projects including the world’s first solar bridge at Blackfriars Station in Central London and IKEA’s residential solar offer in Europe.

Find more information on the company at develop.solarcentury-refresh.greenlightdigital.com/about

For questions about this press release contact Nicola Perkin on 0207 549 1299.