KCC and LASER’s new solar farm

A new 38 hectare (94 acre) solar farm in North Somerset has been acquired by Kent County Council (KCC) and LASER Energy.

With the capacity to have 39,312 solar panels and provide 22,000 megawatt hours of green electricity to the grid a year, The Bowerhouse II Solar Farm, which has recently been built by Ethical Power Ltd, is a huge opportunity for KCC, LASER Energy, and green energy in England.

LASER Energy of our energy division managed the acquisition on KCC’s behalf, using £14.415 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Ethical Power Ltd has been appointed to run the operations and maintenance contract for the solar farm.

LASER Energy will continue to be responsible for the ongoing running of the facility, including managing contractors, energy trading, monetary flows and carbon management and reporting. Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates, which provide transparency to consumers on the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources, will show this purchase contributes to about 30% of KCC’s Net Zero carbon reduction target.

KCC’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Susan Carey, said: “This new solar farm will reduce our carbon footprint by 30% and make significant savings on our electricity costs for years to come.” KCC and LASER Energy were supported through the acquisition by legal advisers Burges Salmon, Carter Jonas for commercial information and LHW Associates which looked after the technical aspects of the purchase.

LASER’s Director of Energy, Nigel Hartnup, said: “I’m very proud of the role LASER and Commercial Services Group played in supporting KCC through this acquisition and we are looking forward to helping KCC with the ongoing management of the solar farm.

“This experience has enabled LASER to establish key supply chain routes which we hope to use again in the future to assist other public sector bodies to achieve their decarbonisation goals.”

Stuart Whiteford, Director at Ethical Power Ltd, added: “We are delighted to have worked with KCC and LASER in realising this project with the ultimate aim of contributing towards KCC’s aspiration of achieving a Net Zero status.

“I would like to thank everybody involved in the delivery of the project, which is the culmination of several years’ hard work. It is an example of what can be achieved via close collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve ambitious carbon reduction targets. We look forward to working together in the future.”