Solar farm on former landfill site next to food packaging firm set get go-ahead

The proposal for land near the Arla Foods packaging plant on Maesbury Road Industrial Estate, Oswestry, will see a two megawatt solar farm built by Shropshire Council, which would sell electricity back to the factory.

Under the “collaborative” scheme, Shropshire Council will run the solar farm for a period of 25-years, with dairy co-operative Arla Foods agreeing to purchase electricity generated by the site at a pre-set price, known as a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

A solar farm was first proposed by Shropshire Council for the site in 2021, but will go before a planning committee for a final decision next week after authority planning officers gave it the nod in principle.

If approved, over 3,000 solar panels will be installed on the four hectare site on Maesbury Road Industrial Estate, providing electricity for the plant via a direct connection to the building, with excess power sold back to the national grid.

In a report to the planning committee, the council’s environmental protection team said it had concerns about the weight of the panels on a clay “cap” which covers the former landfill site and prevents water leaching into buried waste.

They recommended a condition that a pollutant monitoring scheme was developed for the site prior to the start of any works.

“The solar farm would generate 2 MW to supply Arla Foods with any surplus energy exported to the national grid,” said a report from the council’s planning officer.

“This additional capacity would make a welcome contribution towards the approximate total of 5,000MW installed capacity required to make the county self-sufficient in renewable energy.

“The application details note that approximately 2,004kWp of solar energy would be generated, which is equivalent to a carbon saving of approximately 418,559Kg of CO2 emissions per year. ”

The application attracted no public comments, but received an expression of support from Oswestry Town Council who said the site was suitable for a solar array.

If approved, construction work at the site would be expected to last around five months.

The scheme will be decided by Shropshire Council’s Northern Planning Committee on Tuesday, September 17.