Coal mining activities can turn areas into Mordor-type landscapes; ‘brownfield’ sites with a toxic legacy. A UK company is about to turn some of these sites into solar farms.
Anesco will be repurposing some of Harworth Estates’ former colliery sites into a 30MW solar portfolio capable of generating enough power to provide for 10,000 households and also creating much-needed employment.
The first site to get a solar makeover will be Welbeck Colliery in Mansfield , which will host 44,160 solar panels and have a generation capacity of 11.2MW.
Next in line are 5.74MW installations at both Gedling and Bilsthorpe. An installation at Askern is currently in planning stages.
“Through these installations we will not only be regenerating disused land but will be creating employment, generating renewable energy and helping to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions,” said Adrian Pike, CEO of Anesco.
Anesco says it has helped to take over 65,000 people out of “fuel poverty” and its current portfolio is now generating enough power for more than 75,000 homes, avoiding more than 101,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Anesco recently received the fastest growing company award for 2013 in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100. After growing revenue from £21million to £55.1 million in the previous financial year, the company expected to exceed its target of £100 million by financial year end March 2014.
According to the UK’s Homes & Communities Agency, of the estimated 61,920 hectares of brownfield land in England, 54% is derelict or vacant. A significant chunk of this land is associated with coal mining operations.
The National Coalfields Programme (NCP) was established in 1996 to re-invigorate former coalfield communities across England following the widespread pit closures of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1981 there were 161 collieries employing over 200,000 people, but by 2010 this reduced to five major mines employing approximately 3,300.
