Glasgow-based renewable energy consultancy SgurrEnergy has provided technical due diligence services for one of the UK’s largest solar plants – Kencot Hill – supporting it to completion.
Constructed on a former airfield near Oxford, the 37MW solar farm uses 144,000 panels 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 – part of the oil and gas energy support services company, the Wood Grouop – acted as technical advisor to the project owner, the German energy giant 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.
Following this, SgurrEnergy was appointed as owner’s 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. “
Formerly RAF Broadwell, Kencot Hill was the wartime base of No.s 512 and 575 squadrons flying Douglas Dakotas on a number of missions, including hauling Horsa gliders carrying paratroops into action in the 1944 D-Day landings in Normandy.
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy