A public consultation is being held on Flintshire Council's renewable energy plans

In 2018-2019, the council generated 4.6 million kWh of electricity from solar PV, wind, landfill gas and combined heat and power. This is around 5 per cent of the council’s electricity usage, or equivalent to the power used in around 1,500 homes and approximately 2,090 tonnes of carbon.

Now under the ‘Green Council’ Council Plan priority and the Renewable Energy Action Plan; the council is seeking to further its commitment to renewable energy through developing a ground mounted solar PV scheme on land to the south of Dock Road, Connah’s Quay.

It is proposed to install 1.6MW of ground mounted solar PV and associated infrastructure such as inverters and transformers. This will generate around 1.4 million kWh of electricity per year which is enough to power around 480 homes, saving approximately 439 tonnes of carbon a year.

This will not only help reduce carbon emissions; mitigating climate change and air pollution but will also contribute towards the council’s own carbon reduction target of 60 per cent by 2021 and the Welsh Government’s target of Wales generating 70 per cent of its electricity consumption from renewable energy by 2030.

A planning application is being prepared and as part of the pre-application consultation the council is holding a public exhibition between September 11 and October 9 at Connah’s Quay Library, Wepre Drive, Connah’s Quay.

The public exhibition will provide information on the proposal including location, designs, layouts and draft planning documentation/reports. This is the opportunity for the local community to provide feedback and comments on the development before the planning application is formally submitted.