Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scotland’s largest solar farm on Errol Estate officially opened

Post Thumbnail

Scotland’s largest solar farm which will provide power for more than 3,500 homes from a Perthshire estate has been officially opened.

The 55,000 solar panels on Errol Estate began construction in January on 70 acres of land.

The 13MW scheme, which went live in May in the Carse of Gowrie, generates energy all year round.

Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Government’s minister for business, innovation and energy, cut the ribbon to formally launch the solar farm on Tuesday.

Errol estate was one of the first locations in Scotland to be identified as a potential solar farm site, with the land being promoted for development by Thomas Macmillan of Savills in 2011.

The company say the project is proof that large-scale solar PV systems work well on the east coast of Scotland.

Business, innovation and energy minister Paul Wheelhouse officially opened Scotland’s largest solar farm on the Errol Estate.
Business, innovation and energy minister Paul Wheelhouse officially opened Scotland’s largest solar farm on the Errol Estate.

Savills, and developers such as Elgin Energy, the renewables company behind the Errol scheme, are continuing to source solar sites across Scotland for more projects.

Savills Energy Director Thomas MacMillan said: “We are delighted to see this project come to fruition with power now being generated.  It has been four years in the making and proves that large-scale solar in Scotland continues to be commercially viable.”

Mr McMillan said the viability of such schemes had become more challenging due to the Westminster Government reducing subsidies though he expected to see more large-scale projects in the future which didn’t require subsidies.

He added: “Solar technology has a far greater role to play in Scotland’s energy mix than many people might realise.

“Due to reducing installation costs, and a climate of support from Scottish Government, we are continuing to see an appetite from developers to take forward new development sites, even with reducing subsidy support from the Westminster government.”

The solar farm covers around 70 acres of land in the Carse of Gowrie.
The solar farm covers around 70 acres of land in the Carse of Gowrie.

Government minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “This very substantial and impressive project is proof that large scale solar photovoltaic systems work well on the east coast of Scotland and I am also greatly encouraged that a variety of organisations are continuing to source solar sites across the country, with a view to developing financially viable schemes.

“The Scottish Government is developing a new, overarching Energy Strategy for Scotland, which means developing a ‘whole systems approach’ considering Scotland’s energy supply and consumption as equal priorities, building a genuinely integrated approach to power, transport and heat, and solar will play an important role within the energy mix.”