UK’s Solar Village On Shuttered Coal Site

Rugeley coal plant to be transformed into a sustainable village; Energy firm plans to build 2,000 homes powered by solar panels on the Staffordshire site

Adam Vaughan, 19 November 2018 (UK Guardian)

“…French firm Engie said it had decided against selling off the Rugeley site in Staffordshire and would instead build super-efficient houses on the 139-hectare site as part of its bid to “move beyond energy”…Half of the energy required by the new homes will come from green sources, predominantly solar, which will be fitted on rooftops, in a field and even floating on a lake…The company is planning for 10 megawatts of solar capacity in total, equivalent to one of the UK’s smaller solar farms…Batteries will be used across the site, both in homes and at a communal power storage facility, to balance out electricity supply and demand…[The homes] will use nearly a third less energy than average new builds. Heating will come not from gas boilers but electric devices…

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There are seven operational coal power stations left in the UK, but all are due to shut by a government deadline of 2025, raising questions over what happens to the sizeable parcels of land afterwards…While some energy companies are hoping to build gas plants on or adjacent to the old coal sites, others will need to be decommissioned for uses…Engie said it was eyeing other sites around the country…[It says all] large scale housing developments going forward are going to have some form of local generation…Around 30% of the Rugeley project will be classified affordable homes, though it is not clear how much the green energy measures and high building standards will add to the upfront cost of the properties…” click here for more

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