Constructed on a former airfield in Oxfordshire, the 37 MW solar farm uses 144,000 polycrystalline modules over an area of 52 acres. The plant is expected to produce enough electricity to power 10,000 homes and save 16,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
SgurrEnergy, a Wood Group company, acted as technical advisor to the project owner, RWE, during pre-construction, construction and acceptance testing phases. The detailed scope of work included technical due diligence, construction monitoring, commissioning verification and provisional acceptance. This included a detailed energy yield assessment of the plant as well as a review of the key technologies, EPC and O&M contracts, grid connection arrangements and system design verification.
Following this, SgurrEnergy was appointed as owners engineer during the construction phase, which incorporated construction and quality management, health and safety support and the role of Construction Design Management Co-ordinator (CDM-C).
Raphael Raggatt, consultant at SgurrEnergy, said: We are very proud to be working with RWE on not only their first solar project in the UK, but one of the largest solar plants in the UK.
We look forward to continuing to provide technical solar expertise and further build on our already significant track record in the UK and global solar market.
With over 5GW of experience on solar PV plants including 1,200MW in the UK, SgurrEnergy has a wealth of experience acting as technical advisor on large-scale solar plants. Headquartered in the UK, SgurrEnergy supports the growth of the solar industry, working with some of the biggest developers, investors and banks.
