SWW to build huge new Churston solar farm

Council could opt out of building and lease the land instead

A huge solar farm in the Torbay countryside is likely to be built by South West Water after the council decided handing the task to the water company would save it money.

Less than a year ago Torbay Council decided it would dig in and build the solar farm at Brokenbury itself, and then sell the electricity to the water company to power the nearby sewage works.

Now the council has had a re-think, and members of the cabinet will meet next week to decide on a change of course.

In June last year the cabinet decided the fields between the sewage works, the disused go-kart track and Bascombe Road at Churston were the ‘ideal site’ for a new solar energy farm.

Committee members heard that the cost of the solar farm had been calculated at £2.75 million when it was first agreed in 2020, and while the estimate had stayed the same, it could end up costing even less.

They decided the solar farm would be a positive step towards meeting the targets set out in the authority’s climate change strategy, reducing the bay’s carbon footprint by nearly 460 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, based on the average sunlight over Churston.

They thought it may even generate a surplus which the council could sell to the national grid.

Now, though, it is likely that Pennon Group, the parent company of South West Water, will lease the land from the council, build the solar farm itself and be responsible for its upkeep.

The council will recover the money it has spent getting planning permission for the project straight away, and will then get an income from renting the land out to Pennon for up to 40 years.

The land stretches to nearly 17 acres, or around eight football pitches. More than 30,000 commercial-sized solar panels will fit on a piece of land that size.

Planning permission was granted for a solar farm on the site in November 2022.