UK solar energy developer Lightsource Renewable Energy has completed and commissioned over 133MWp of solar PV projects in the first quarter of 2013.
The company claims to have connected a total of 34 projects to the grid, attracting investment of over £180 million (US$276 million).
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Based on data published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, this represents over one third of the 350MWp of commissioned solar capacity which came on stream in the first quarter in the UK.
Nick Boyle, CEO of Lightsource, said: “It is my firm belief that the UK has one of the most robust solar markets in the world. These results show we are well on track to achieving the government’s target of 22GW installed solar PV by 2020.”
Lightsource said that it had developed and commissioned utility scale solar totalling 250MWp in the UK since 2011, investing £500 million in the process. Lightsource said it had a robust pipeline of projects, and expects to continue this strong start to the year.
Most recently, in conjunction with Portuguese PV developer Martifer Solar, Lightsource completed five solar parks totalling 28.1MW in the UK. The four solar parks were constructed in Cornwall, Hampshire, Devon and Wiltshire and range from 4.4MW to 6.63MW in scale. Martifer estimated that the parks will generate around 27.74GWh of clean energy every year.
Lightsource works in partnership with Octopus Investments, one of the UK’s largest investors in commercial solar.
Matt Setchell, who heads up the solar team at Octopus, said: “The solar and broader renewables market in the UK is growing rapidly and there continues to be a great opportunity to deliver attractive and stable returns to our investors.”
-Nick Boyle will be speaking at the Large Scale Solar UK Conference on 24-25 April organised by PV-Tech's publisher Solar Media. 'Building a sustainable large-scale solar industry in the UK after April 2013', to be held in Truro, Cornwall, will explore the renaissance of the large-scale solar industry in the UK and the commercial and investment opportunities it offers. Further information is available here.
