© Shutterstock / HJBC TotalEnergies has unveiled a proposal to build a solar farm near Birmingham Airport in the West Midlands.
The company is preparing to submit a planning application for the project, known as Castle Hills solar farm, to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Ahead of this, it launched a public consultation on June 23, which will run until 7 July.
The proposal involves a solar farm with rows of ground-mounted solar panels that would generate up to 49.9 MW of electricity, co-located with a 5 MW battery energy storage system (BESS).
The solar panels would be mounted on a fixed-tilt system and made with high-transparency solar glass, aimed at optimising energy generation and minimising glare.
Supporting infrastructure will include transformers, substations, site access tracks and storage containers, according to the project website, which went live on 21 June. The website also details the steps TotalEnergies intends to take to minimise the site’s impact and reduce its visibility from public viewpoints.
There are also plans for “extensive” ecological enhancements, the company said in a press release accompanying the launch of the consultation process.
Castle Hills is being designed to have a lifespan of 40 years. TotalEnergies is proposing a community benefit fund of £40,000 per year to support local groups and initiatives throughout the lifespan of the solar farm.
Given that solar farm proposals in the UK generally run into varying degrees of local opposition, the company will be hoping that initiatives such as the community benefit fund and mitigation plans will be enough to win over support from local residents.
Energy resilience
TotalEnergies expects the project to support local decarbonisation efforts while boosting energy resilience in the region. The company said it had started discussions with Birmingham Airport to explore how the proposals could benefit its growth plans, looking at the potential for the airport to become a customer supplied with energy generated at the site.
A TotalEnergies spokesperson described the initiative as “one of Britain’s most ambitious solar projects”, saying the company looked forward to collaborating with its neighbours to refine its plans and “seize opportunities”.
Castle Hills “represents a significant step in the West Midlands’ journey towards a low-carbon future”, the spokesperson added.
The proposal comes against the backdrop of a broader push by TotalEnergies to grow its solar and BESS business in the UK. Earlier in June, the company announced that it was buying a pipeline of eight solar and two BESS projects in the south of England from renewable energy player Low Carbon.
The solar projects included in the deal have a combined capacity of 350 MW, while the BESS projects have a capacity of 85 MW.
In a June 3 announcement, TotalEnergies said the solar projects were at an “advanced” stage of development, with a targeted start-up date of 2028. The company said at the time that the acquisition would complement its UK electricity portfolio, which includes 1.1 GW of gross installed offshore wind capacity, 1.3 GW of gross combined cycle gas turbines and more than 600 MW of solar projects under development.
The subsequent announcement of the Castle Hills plan shows TotalEnergies working to grow its portfolio of solar projects further still.
