In June 2022, the Council submitted a joint planning application with Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) for a 13MW solar farm at the ex-landfill site at Chelson Meadow. The planning application received unanimous support and planning was approved (subject to conditions).

The building of the solar farm creates the following opportunities for the council:

• To reduce the Council’s total carbon emissions by approximately 60%.
• To reduce the corporate energy costs
• To guarantee future energy costs over a 15 – 20 year period through a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with the solar farm.
• To generate an income to the Council through the lease of the land, the provision of construction finance, and the creation of a joint venture to own the solar farm.

This decision focusses on the opportunity for the Council to guarantee future energy costs by entering into a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with the site operator. The basic principal of the opportunity is that the Council secures a fixed strike price for power, which is lower than the potential power costs to the Council over the lifetime of the agreement. This arrangement provides certainty of power costs over a medium term.