Landfill sites in England will convert to clean energy money-spinners

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
The planned sites in Cambridgeshire, England. Image: Cambridgeshire County Council.

A local authority in England has unveiled two landmark solar-plus-storage projects on existing landfill sites which aim to be the first of their kind in the UK.

Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), which has been a prominent proponent of renewables, last week unveiled plans to develop the energy projects on landfill sites in Woodston and Stanground, both near Peterborough.

The Stanground site is proposed to be the largest, combining a 2.25MW ground-mount solar array with a 10MW battery storage system, while the Woodston project will use a 3MW battery. Both battery systems are expected to have a 2C charge-discharge rate.

Minutes from a CCC committee meeting dated to 14 September 2018 said that, with demand response and balancing capacity services sold to National Grid expected to form the bulk of those revenues, Stanground could raise £1.4 million (US$1.82 million) in its first year of operation and Woodston £380,000. The council noted that “grid services are an evolving market with uncertain revenue streams”.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

“However, market reports confirm that with a growing proportion of renewable energy on the grid, the necessity for a response to balance periods of high demand or high penetration of renewables is increasing,” the document continues, adding that there is a “high degree of confidence” that the need for grid services will grow in the longer term.

Image: Cambridgeshire County Council Commercial and Investment Committee.

Crucially, revenue generated from the services is to be used to help fund the county council’s frontline services, with previously-stated revenue generation estimates placing the sites’ combined contribution at almost £46 million over 25 years.

CCC’s energy investment team has worked with frequent partner Bouygues E & S for the sites’ design.

CCC’s experience with solar has been long standing and the council remains one of the most vocal supporters of the technology. In late 2016 CCC confirmed the completion of the 10MW, council-owned Triangle Solar Farm in Soham, the second utility-scale solar project to be completed under the Contracts for Difference mechanism.

This was followed up later in 2017 with the unveiling of plans to develop a near-1MW solar car port, combined with a battery storage system, at the council’s St Ives Park & Ride, with similar plans also planned for the Trumpington Park & Ride.

Additional reporting by Andy Colthorpe.

Read Next

Premium
October 7, 2025
Energy-Storage.news Premium hears from a representative from Honeywell and Alejandro Schnakofsky, CTO of Prevalon, on fire safety in the battery energy storage system (BESS) industry.
October 3, 2025
EDF Renewables has brought its 300MWh Milagro project online in New Mexico, while Enlight Renewable Energy has secured US$340 million in tax equity financing for its 940MWh Roadrunner project in Arizona.
October 1, 2025
Dr Mahdi Behrengrad, head of energy storage at Pacifico Energy, speaks to Energy-Storage.news ahead of next week’s Energy Storage Summit Asia 2025 in Manila.
September 30, 2025
According to the Q3 2025 US Energy Storage Monitor from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the American Clean Power Association (ACP), annual installations will not reach 2025 levels again until 2029.
September 29, 2025
Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia has submitted plans for a 300MWh solar-plus-storage project in Queensland to Australia’s EPBC Act.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter