Although the United Kingdom is not known for sunny weather, solar power is still a relevant part of the country‘s renewable energy sources. There are several solar developers in the UK that drive the energy transition further forward. In June 2021, the installed capacity of solar energy was 13.5GW. In this article, we present three of the largest solar developers in the UK.
1) Lightsource BP (London, UK)
Lightsource BP is regarded as a pioneer when it comes to the development of solar parks. By realising a number of diverse projects, the London-based developer expanded their portfolio to 14 different countries with a total capacity of 3 GW. Their UK solar projects include the Newark-based 49.9MW Grange Solar and the Leicestershire-based 49.9MW solar park called Streetfields and Northfield House solar. Besides these two, the company has developed or is currently developing nine other farms with the same capacity in the United Kingdom. Moreover, it develops several other UK solar projects of lower capacity.
2) Enso Energy (Dursley, UK)
Enso Energy is a British developer of solar energy and battery storage facilities. Based in Dursley, the firm is a well-proven developer of large-scale solar projects. Their total installed capacity is over 1.5GW. This includes solar parks in the United Kingdom. An example for a more recent project is the 160MW Anglesey solar plant, located in Wales, for which the group started to plan construction in 2021. The Alaw Môn solar project will be a key factor of Wales’ plan to receive 70% of its electricity from renewables by 2030.
3) Hive Energy (Hampshire, UK)
The Hampshire-based solar developer has already completed over 40 solar energy projects since its founding in 2011. The company was founded with the vision to develop large-scale renewable energy solutions to combat climate change. Their current portfolio has an installed capacity of 1.97GW with a project pipeline of 16.54GW. An example for the group‘s projects in the United Kingdom is a 250 MW solar and battery project in South Oxfordshire. With projects such as these, Hive’s acceleration in the development of renewable energy solutions will play a key role in the achievement of the UK‘s goal to source 100% of its power from renewables by 2035.
Image: Chelsea via Unsplash (21.04.2023)
